Mastermind
by fannypacked
Summary: Fuyaku Layuki knows almost every single person she meets inside and out. Though, once in a while a person who is unreadable comes along...Gaara is one of those people. As she gets to know him, she finds herself attracted to his mystery. Gaara x OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Naruto fic. Yaay!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

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The room was silent with shock, nobody moved, some people even held their breaths. Then suddenly, there was a burst of laughter coming from two people. Fuyaku Layuki was clutching her chest and laughing so hard that tears were almost spilling out of her eyes, long ebony hair fell and framed her petite figure as she leaned forward. The other person laughing, Inuzuka Kiba, was banging his fist on the desk and even Akamaru seemed to be rolling on his back in laughter. The rest of the occupants of the room were sitting and gaping at the scene that was happening. The class clown, Uzumaki Naruto, had fallen forwards and locked lips with the famous Uchiha Sasuke. The shock had passed over and the class was in an uproar. The girl, Fuyaku Layuki, stopped laughing and quickly moved away from her spot beside Sasuke to avoid being crushed by a group of crazed girls led by Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, who were blind with rage and intent on ripping Naruto to pieces.

"Nice one Shikamaru," Layuki said with a grin plastered on her face as she hopped into and empty seat to the right of her best friend, Nara Shikamaru, "you did that quite nicely." The lazy genius looked over at the girl, somewhat surprised that her usually unreadable stormy grey eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Troublesome woman," was all Shikamaru could say before the door opened and Iruka-sensei entered the room. Both Sakura and Ino sat down in the closest seats they could find by their precious Sasuke-kun.

"All of you in front of me are very close to becoming shinobi. Now, I will put you into three-man squads with a jounin leader," he paused and flipped through some papers, and read off the names of people in squads one through six. "Squad 7; Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto," at this Naruto had a triumphant expression on his face and Sakura had on a gloomy one, "and Uchiha Sasuke will be with Hatake Kakashi." Now Naruto was gloomy and Sakura was triumphant while Sasuke adopted his usual stoic face. After a short argument on why Naruto had to be on the same team as Sasuke, Iruka continued calling out the names.

"Squad 8; Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino will be with Yuhi Kurenai. Squad 9; Rutake Kaoru, Rutake Karin, and Fuyaku Layuki will be with Izuku Rei" At this Layuki let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and looked at the red headed twins sitting in front of her and gave a smile, she had a great team. "Squad 10; Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino will be with Sarutobi Asuma." Then Iruka told them to meet their new senseis after they have eaten. Then, the thirty kids filed out of the room. Knowing full well that only half will be official shinobi at the end of the day.

Everybody had gone outside for lunch and Layuki decided to go in search of her new teammates. She moved her hand up to her neck and gripped the Konohagakure headband that she had placed there the night before. She still couldn't believe they had passed her. Sure she was a great student, second only to Uchiha Sasuke, but she skipped class so many times the past year that she was absent more times that she was there. She sighed, if she was to be a genin she would have to leave behind her childish antics and forget about the Fuyaku massacre the previous year.

Her elder sister, Fuyaku Satsuki, was, to say it bluntly, was in love with Uchiha Itachi and was devastated, not by the fact that he had slain his entire clan, but by the fact that he had left. More then a year after that she heard that he had joined the Akatsuki, an organization of S-ranked criminals. She had spent the next half-year training extra hard. Exactly two years after the slaughtering of the Uchiha clan, she had done exactly what the Uchiha had done, killed every member of her clan. All, except for her younger sister, Layuki. And then Fuyaku Satsuki left Konahagakure just like Itachi had years previously.

Layuki was extremely hurt after all this. Not because her clan had been slaughtered, but because her onee-chan had left her all on her own. For a short while, she was in denial. Saying to everyone that her sister didn't do it and would be coming home very soon. But time went on, and she gave up the charade, slowly returning to her old self. Layuki had never cared for her clan. Her mother had died giving birth to her and her father, who had hated her after that. Before she could even walk, nearly the whole clan was against her. Her mother was a medical nin for the clan alone; helping with problems in the bloodline ability. The clan made a decision and disowned her at the age of seven when she could walk and find food for herself. Her sister, twelve years old and a genin at this time, moved out of the clan households into an apartment in the middle of the village, and took care of her.

The only thing her clan had ever given her was her kekkei genkai. The Fuyaku clan was fairly well known and had a powerful bloodline limit called the Hirukagan. All members of the clan had dull and unattractive eyes, in which the pupils were always a tiny dot, in both light and dark. However, the Hirukagan could be activated at will and when it was in use the user's pupil expanded so much that none of the iris can be seen. This grants the user the ability to basically read another's mind. Layuki, for instance, when using her kekkei genkai could see a person's and memories. This was a high advantage in battle because she knew what her opponent planned to do before he actually did it. However, it required a steady stream of chakra to be used. Most of the time, it was reserved for emergencies. This was no problem though; many of the Fuyaku clan's shinobi were strong without it.

But unlike all the other shinobi who had suffered in their childhood, Layuki never showed or mentioned it. She was always smiling, laughing, talking to, yelling at, or insulting other people. It was her nature, and it was how she'd always acted. She was your average happy-go-lucky girl. Currently she was lost in thought and sitting down by a tree trunk. She was somewhat startled because she had not remembered sitting down but quickly got over it. It was then that she saw two flashes of red out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she saw the Rutake twins, her new teammates standing in front of her with identical grins on their faces.

"We were looking for you," Karin started while pulling Layuki up to her feet.

"Yeah, we should probably go see Rei-sensei now…you're really short." Kaoru said surprised as his eyes opened wide. The surprise was unnecessary as they hadn't talked standing up face to face before this moment and Layuki barely reached his chin.

"Yes, I know I'm short, thanks for the reminder." She had tried to sound stern, but couldn't keep the corners of her lips twitching. If he said this a couple years earlier she would have began yelling, but now she knew and accepted that she had below average height. In fact, she took pride in it. Layuki gave in and gave them both a bright smile. "Well, what are we waiting for? Lets go!"

And squad 9 left for training ground number four, where they were due to meet Izuku Rei, their new sensei.

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**A/N:** Thanks for reading!  
**fanny-kun**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Kay, so I really don't want to wait to post the second chapter if I already have it. So here it is..

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I do not own.

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_One month later_

"Ouch," Layuki said as the nurse dabbed at the fairly severe burn on her right arm that she had received on their last mission.

"Jeez, Layuki, you need to be more careful. Aren't you all about chakra control? You could have at least focused a bit and protected your skin." Kaoru sighed, as he leaned against the wall. He was wearing his usual red sleeveless shirt with tan-coloured shorts and the common blue ninja sandal shoes, and wore his ninja headband on his forehead.

"Don't be so hard on her. She didn't have anytime to do that." Karin came to Layuki's defense as she swung her legs from her position sitting on the table. She was wearing her usual light blue fighting kimono with dark blue leggings, blue ninja sandal shoes and had her ninja headband tied on her left wrist. Her blue outfit made her shoulder-length bright red hair, which was in two spiky pigtails, stand out.

Their last mission was a journey to the other side of the fire country to help out at a farm. It was an easy C-ranked mission. During their second night there, however, a lantern was accidentally knocked over by the farmer's son and the barn was set on fire. Squad 9 was there immediately, getting all the animals and the boy out. Though when they thought they were finished Layuki heard a dog barking and went back in the farm, despite the protests from her sensei and her teammates. She managed to get the dog out safely, but she suffered from a horrible burn.

Layuki glared at Kaoru and stuck her tongue out at him, acting extremely childish. She was wearing her usual dark grey shirt with a very wide V-neck that went just below her non-existent breasts, underneath that she had white bandages wrapped around her body, black baggy shorts, her ninja headband was on a black cloth instead of blue and was loosely tied around her neck. She also had on ninja sandal shoes, which were black instead of blue.

"Alright sweetie, I think that's good, it's healed a bit and I've made it so it won't hurt as much. But please don't do anything rash." The nurse smiled sweetly. "You may go now."

Letting out a cry of glee, she quickly made her way out of the hospital with her teammates close behind.

But once she was outside, she was immediately stopped when a man stepped in front of her. She looked up, somewhat cautiously, at the expressionless face of her sensei. He was dressed in his normal black pants and a black t-shirt with the forest green jounin vest over top. His spiky navy blue hear was messy, as usual, and covered parts of his Konohagakure headband on his forehead. His arms were bandaged and he wore fingerless gloves with a metal plate over the knuckles.

"A student who does not obey orders cannot be expected to be a good shinobi," He said, quite casually.

"Order? I don't recall you giving me an order, I saw it as more of a…" Layuki paused, thinking of a proper word, "request." And she gave and innocent smile.

"You really can't blame her Rei-sensei, nothing extreme happened and she did save that dog," Karin started, somewhat slowly, attempting to help her friend.

"That's true," Kaoru said, also trying to help.

Their sensei looked at them tiredly. It was no wonder they were one of the four groups that had become genin, the way they stood up for each other and how they worked as a team was quite remarkable. Karin, the sweet girl was the brain, she could think of a good strategy in almost any situation. Kaoru, he was the strength, the leader of the team who gave the directions. And Layuki, the little girl was the sheer skill, since she was young she was working on chakra control and now her control was pretty much perfect, she kept the group together.

"Well, anyways, I'm here to tell you that I've signed all of you up for the Chuunin Exams." He said, as if he was making a comment on the weather.

"What?"

"You're joking!"

"Are you serious?"

Rei waited for his students to quiet down before he continued. "I think you're all ready. The first exams start in three days. Bye-bye now." And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wow, I'll never understand how he does that," Kaoru said trying to break the stunned silence.

Layuki laughed. "Well, I'm kinda hungry, I think I'm gonna to Ichiraku. You guys coming?"

"Nah, okaa-san and otou-san want us home." Karin said waving.

"Alright then, see you soon." Layuki said, smiling despite the pang she felt when Karin mentioned her mother and father.

Making her way into the center of Konohagakure, she met a strange scene. There was a tall girl with four short blonde pigtails with a large fan strapped to her back, a tall boy in a black jumpsuit and purple war paint with a thing that looked like a mummy strapped to his back. And there was a boy about her age, though taller and with hair even redder than the twins'. He also had a large gourd on his back that looked very heavy. Also, all three of them seemed to be from Sunagakure, the village hidden in the sand.

What was strange though was that the boy with the mummy had his hand around the honourable grandson's, Konohamaru's, neck and was holding him about a foot off the ground, an arms length away as if he was some dirty rag.

Naruto was there too and so was Sakura. Sensing a familiar chakra pattern, Layuki confirmed that Sasuke was there too, sitting in the tree, not visible to the crowd below.

While there were many yells of 'let me down' and 'let him down' a kunai came flying from Sasuke's place in the tree, making the mummy boy drop Konohamaru. Then everyone in the crowd looked up to where Sasuke is. He jumped down as the sand trio began to walk away.

"Wait!" he called out, "What's your name?"

The boy with red hair turned around and examined the raven-haired boy. "Yes, I'm quite interested in you too," he said before turning around again and walking away. But before he fully turned around his aquamarine eyes met Layuki's glaring grey ones for a brief second. The girl with the fan was already fairly ahead, and the mummy boy gave a smirk before walking away as well.

"Well that was dramatic." Layuki said breaking the silence. Naruto and Sakura jumped; obviously they didn't know that she was there.

"Layuki-chan, where are doing here?" Naruto asked, slightly titling his head to the right. Naruto and Layuki were fairly good friends and in the academy they were both consistently getting into trouble.

"To Ichiraku's," She said, "You can come if you want, Naruto-kun, and you too Sakura-san, Sasuke-_kun_, it's my treat." She put an emphasis on the 'kun', knowing it would annoy Sasuke. She also would have invited Konohamaru, if he hadn't run off.

"Yay! Ramen!" With that, Naruto skipped down to the ramen shop by himself.

"I'm not hungry." Sasuke said, rather coldly, walking away.

"Uhm, I'm not hungry either," Sakura said, looking at Sasuke's retreating back. "Ah, did your sensei sign your team up for the chuunin exams as well, Layuki-chan?"

"Yeah he did. Great, though isn't it Sakura-san? We could become chuunin after only a month of being genin!" Layuki had her usual grin plastered on her face.

Looking down at the other girl, Sakura couldn't help but admire her confidence. "Yes," She muttered softly. "Well, I think I should be off, see you! Oh, and please, just call me Sakura." With that, she walked off in the same direction Sasuke had earlier.

When she entered the ramen shop, she stopped, and gaped at Naruto, who was already on his fourth bowl of ramen.

"Uhm Naruto, I don't think I'm all that hungry anymore. Here's the money for four bowls, you'll have to pay for the rest," She gave an uneasy smile, put the money on the table an left after Naruto said something into his bowl that might have been a 'thank you'.

It was true; she wasn't really hungry anymore. Deciding that she was tired, she made her way to her apartment. On the way, a colourful shop caught her attention.

"Yamanaka Flowers," She read. She gave a shrug and walked in. A multi coloured flower immediately caught her attention. She isn't the kind of girl that picks flowers just because they look pretty. But this one just looked, well, breathtaking. It had a perfect combination of blues, greens, yellows, and oranges, with a little bit of brown.

"Well if it isn't Layuki." Ino said as she walked into the store from the staff room.

"Nice to see you Ino." Layuki said giving the blonde girl a smile.

"What's this? Layuki's admiring pansies?" She gave an overly exaggerated gasp, "Well, tell me, who's the lucky guy?"

"Lucky guy? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, so you're not secretly in love with a boy?" She looked disappointed.

"No…should I be?"

"I guess not, it's just that since you were looking at the pansies, I was so sure. Pansies mean loving thoughts, you know?"

Layuki looked up at Ino for a moment, and then burst out laughing. When she had finally calmed down she looked at the girl again and let a huge grin spread across her face. "Ino, Ino, Ino. I'm disappointed, here you are accusing my of having loving thoughts and practically the whole village knows that you're smitten for Nara Shikamaru."

"What?! Seriously? The whole village knows?" Layuki wished she had a camera. The look on Ino's face was priceless.

"Nope. But now I do for sure. I'm off." She turned to walk away but a firm grasp on her bandaged right arm caused her to stifle and 'ouch'. Instead she turned to face Ino while rubbing her burnt and sore arm.

Ino's face looked a little sorry but that didn't stop her from threatening the shorter girl.

"Don't worry about it. But he's not interested. If you're looking for a guy, might I suggest Rutake Kaoru? He seems to like you." She gave a wink and headed out the door. She had abandoned the idea of heading home and made her way to the training grounds. She wanted to do her best in the chuunin exams.

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I would really appreciate it if people could review, I just want to know how my fic is going. I'm not saying you absolutely _have _to review, I'll still keep posting if you don't but they're welcome D  
**fanny-kun**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I enjoy updating so, here's chapter three :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. I wish I did though...

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"God Shikamaru, you are so bloody boring!" Layuki stated, frustrated as she sat beside her best friend, who had been on his back watching the clouds for the past hour, "I mean honestly, do you do anything other than watching clouds?"

"Of course," He replied, "I play shougi."

Layuki let out an exasperated sigh. It was a day before the chuunin exams and she couldn't find her teammates anywhere. Since she hadn't spent any time with Shikamaru lately, she thought she would stay with him. She began to regret her choice.

"Listen I need your advice," Layuki said, looking at Shikamaru. He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think of those three Sunagakure ninja?" For the past couple days, she couldn't seem to get her mind off of the boy with the gourd. It was his eyes, the things that could usually tell Layuki everything she needed to know about a person, but his eyes were like hers, unreadable.

"Nothing really, I've barely even seen them," Shikamaru replied, propping himself tiredly up onto his elbows. "Why?"

"The boy with the kanji tattooed on his forehead, he…scares me."

"He scares you? You pretend to be someone who's scared of nothing, but this boy scares you? You're too troublesome," He said, lying back down on the grass hands behind his head.

"This is why I'm telling you this, baka. You're supposed to be some genius aren't you? Help me figure this out!" Layuki said, somewhat angry.

There was a pause, then, "Why does he scare you?" Shikamaru asked, surprisingly gently.

"Because, well, I don't know. It's kind of like his, oh what the word? Aura! His aura, like a feeling you get from him, you know? But he really does scare me. I don't usually look into peoples heads, that's out of respect, but I have no problem reading their minds, like when they're pissing me off and stuff, or if it's someone I don't know. But he was, different. When I thought of looking into his head I just kind of, froze up, I was scared of what I would see. I couldn't read his eyes but they made him just seem, really empty inside, almost dead, but not quite. Do you get what I'm saying?"

She looked over to Shikamaru, who was in his thinking position. She smiled, he really was her best friend, the big brother she never had, and she just didn't understand why other people couldn't get that through their heads.

"The exams are tomorrow. Look at his abilities and what he can do. I'm not sure how sand ninja fight, but usually a person's fighting style matches their personality." Shikamaru said, leaning backwards once more.

"Right." Layuki said.

Then after another 5 minutes of complete silence, she got up to leave. She was already bored out of her skull. Shikamaru was such a lazy bastard.

Layuki hadn't been in the forest for a while; she decided that since she was a leaf ninja she should train a while in the trees. So she started walking deep into the forest.

After a little while, a kunai suddenly hit a tree just inches in front her face. She was surprised. Usually she could sense someone's chakra from a distance away. Turning her head left, she spotted Hyuuga Neji, who was training with Tenten. Her surprised face immediately turned into a scowl, she despised Neji. Like seriously, nobody cares that he's not in the main branch, that kid is a freaking prodigy.

"Your stance is off, Hyuuga," She sneered as white eyes met hers "You should be ashamed actually, I thought that you of all people would know how to stand when they're fighting"

"Go away," Neji said, emotionlessly.

"Not that I want to be here," she sighed dramatically, "But it seems _fate_ has brought me here," She said, putting an emphasis on the word 'fate'

"There's no such thing as fate,"

"Yes there is. You know why? Fate brought me here so I could kick your ass,"

Neji smirked. "As if you could,"

"Oh, I can," She said, and then suddenly she disappeared. Appearing again behind Neji,

"Try and keep up," She whispered into his ear, while standing on tiptoes.

Sending chakra to her feet she ran in a circle around Neji at an inhuman speed, Hirukagan activated. Neji, Byakugan activated, punched at the circle twice and the third time, he hit her. Before that, she threw a kunai at him, it missed, snatching a piece of his jacket and lodging into a tree.

Layuki jumped up into the tree and did several hand signs and bolts of lightning shot out of her palm and aimed towards Neji. Wherever the lightning hit, it left large scorch marks on the ground. While Neji dodged the last one, his back was turned toward her. Layuki took the chance and made to punch him in the side of his head with chakra focused into her fist. She swore as he dodged down and hit her in the stomach and grabbed her wrist.

For the next few minutes she continued to squirm and hit and kick, landing several on him, but in return he hit her in various placed where she knew were her chakra points.

With her free hand, she made some more hand signs and she bit into his arm that was holding her still. In his mind, she saw that he was going to make a hit to a vital chakra point on her back. She just bit harder and at the perfect time electric shocks came from her teeth and into his arm.

He quickly let go of her and grabbed onto his forearm in pain. Layuki hadn't realized this but when they were fighting they had backed up a fairly large distance, currently she was standing a foot in front a stream and Neji was in front of her. She swore under her breath. Electricity and water didn't mix.

The Fuyaku clan originated in Lightning country, Kumogakure to be exact, therefore the majority of Layuki's attacks were lightning or electric attacks.

While she was preoccupied about what she should do, she was tackled by Neji and one of her feet hit the water. Praying to Kami that she had enough chakra left, she focused on her feet and stepped backwards. To her surprise and apparently Neji's as well, she did not sink. Neji, after a spit second if hesitation followed her onto the water and grabbed a hold of her neck.

"One more hit, and you're chakra will be completely blocked," Neji said coldly, pulling his fist back.

"Just because I don't have any chakra doesn't mean I can't fight,"

His fist hit her stomach harder then she knew was necessary and she began to sink. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed on to Neji's collar and, to his surprise, dragged him down with her.

Under the water, she forced him down below her with all her strength and hoped that he would run out of air before she did. Neji struggled, landed a couple punches on her face and began to swim to the surface. Layuki swam to the bottom, dug her feet into the earth and grabbed into his foot, preventing him from getting air. After another twenty seconds and her lungs felt like they were going to burst.

To save herself she let go of Neji's foot to push to the surface, only to find that she was caught in seaweed.

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Thanks for taking the time and reading my fic. I appreiciate it. I also appreciate reviews ;)  
**fanny-kun**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **yay new chappie(: I've noticed the ammounts of reviews this fic has been getting (-none-) compared to the ammount of hits. Let's just say theres a _huge _difference. I'm worried, do people not like it?  
Anddd anyways, I've narrowed down the possible pairings. I'm thinking to put Layuki with Gaara...and I might be able to but her with Kiba too. Theres also a teensy weeny chance I might make this a Neji x OC. But I think I like Neji x Tenten too much to do that. I would really appreciate some opinions:D  
Oh andddd I kind of need a beta. So anyone who could to that please let me know!

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned. I wish I did I really do. But I don't. So sad.

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When Neji reached the surface, he gasped for breath, and then a pair of pale hands helped him out of the water.

"God, Neji, you scared me. I thought you two were never coming out," Tenten paused, "where's Layuki?"

Neji, who was sitting on the bank wringing out his hair, looked at the spot where he had come up about half a minute earlier and only saw bubbles.

"Do you think she can swim?" Tenten asked, worried.

"If she couldn't then she would have drowned already." He answered.

"I'm worried, should I got get her? Or maybe you should, seeing as you're already wet,"

"Don't waste your energy worrying, help is coming." He said, standing up. Tenten followed the suit, sighing. She didn't even bother trying to figure out what he meant. That boy was always speaking in riddles.

Then, three figures came out of the woods; Abaurame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba with Akamaru in his jacket.

Hinata gasped, "Neji-nii!" What really surprised her though, wasn't seeing her cousin, but all the cuts an bruised he had.

"Let's go Tenten," He said coldly walking away. He limped a couple steps, and Tenten came over to help him. Together they walked out of the clearing.

Then Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's jacket and started sniffing the ground. When he reached the side of the stream he barked and the three genin walked over.

"What is it boy?" Kiba asked, getting down on his knees.

Then Hinata noticed the bubbles that were coming up. She gasped again, "S-someone's down t-there!"

The three teammates were desperately thinking of what to do.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki was swearing with all the words she knew. Bubbles were escaping from her mouth and she was desperately feeling for her weapons pouch. Swearing some more she realized that it must have fallen off when she fell into the water. As if on cue, she spotted her pouch lying at the bottom of the stream beside her, but just out of her grasp.

She felt her head getting dizzy and her already blurry vision blurring even more. Her Hirukagan had long deactivated. She refused to die like this. Grabbing on to the seaweed, she tried to break it, but her strength wouldn't come.

Suddenly, a hand holding a kunai came down and cut the seaweed, setting her free. But Layuki found that she didn't even have the strength to kick, she felt like daggers were being shot at her lungs.

A strong arm snaked around her waist and pulled her toward the surface. She didn't even realize how deep she was, nine feet, maybe ten.

She was thrown onto the ground, coughing and sputtering. Behind her, she could hear her saviour panting and muttering 'baka'.

Layuki fell silent, eyes opened wide. She knew that voice. Turning around she saw Kiba sitting beside the stream with only his pants on. He was soaked and his shirt and jacket were dry and in a messy pile a few feet away from him. The read marks on his cheeks were smeared very slightly.

"Not that…I'm not…grateful…but what are you…doing here?" She panted, still trying to catch her breath.

"W-we were t-training j-j-just outs-side the forest, L-layuki-chan, and we h-heard some c-commotion," Layuki turned around again and saw Hinata standing next to the tree that Shino was leaning on. Akamaru was in her arms.

Remembering what happened Layuki said, "Where's Hyuuga? Er, where's Neji?"

Hinata looked really put down at this and so Shino spoke, "Neji-san and Tenten-san left when we came,"

"Right," she said, and turning to Kiba, "Well, thanks. I guess I owe you."

"No problem," He said, gathering up his clothes, "Just wondering, what were you doing?"

Layuki groaned and lay on her back, rubbing her stomach where Neji had hit her last, and she opened her mouth to explain when her teammates suddenly came running towards them.

"Wow. What the hell have you been doing? This is unbelievable, we leave you alone for half a day and you manage to get yourself almost killed!" Kaoru exclaimed, apparently amused.

"We just saw Neji-san come out of the forest being supported by Tenten. She said something about you and water. I'm quite curious actually, you usually don't like the water," Karin said, obviously biting back laughter despite the situation her teammate was in.

Layuki groaned again, "and I don't like water even more now,"

The twins cracked a grin. "Can you stand?" Karin asked, helping her friend up, "We know the attacks Neji-san use aren't exactly harmless,"

As soon as Layuki let go of her, she almost fell to the ground again, but Kiba caught her.

"My hero," She said sarcastically. Kiba smirked.

"Here I'll carry you to your place, get on my back," Kaoru said, crouching down.

"No thank you. I can walk," Layuki tried taking a couple steps but she kept tripping. After a couple minutes she gave up and clambered onto Kaoru's back."

"Thanks so much for helping her. I'm actually surprised she's not injured worse. Her attitude will probably get her killed someday," Karin said to squad 8. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

After they were out of hearing distance, Layuki said, "Looks like someone has a crush," She said, in that annoying taunting voice that she does so well.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Karin said, but her face was a bright crimson colour.

"Just because your brother is stupid didn't notice it doesn't mean I didn't. When you said good-bye, you said '_I'll_ see you tomorrow' instead of '_we'll _see you tomorrow' when we were standing right next to you. That means that what you were saying was directed to one them. Since doubt, wait, uhm since I _hope_ you're not attracted to Hinata, then it's either Shino or Kiba. So, which one?" Layuki said, grinning mischievously from her position on Kaoru's back.

"You know what? That actually makes sense," Kaoru said. "So Karin, who is it."

Karin's face turned even redder. Layuki took this as a chance to taunt her friend even more. "Come on! You can tell us we won't insult you. So is it Bug Boy or Dog Boy?"

Karin glared at her, "You have the Hirukagan, figure it out for yourself."

"Well, I would, but I'm kind of crippled right now in case you haven't noticed," She sighed, dramatically.

"I'm not telling you."

"Fine, be that way."

"Fine, I will."

Kaoru shook his head. Girls were so confusing.

Another ten minutes and they had reached Layuki's apartment. They had a short argument of whether Layuki could get up the stairs on her own, and when they found out she couldn't, they had an argument on whether or not she needed to go to the hospital.

"I'm perfectly fine! I just need some rest and I'll be as good as new," Layuki argued, "besides, you know I hate the hospital! It's so clean, it's scary."

Karin looked doubtful. Layuki gave a small smile; she knew Karin wanted to be a medical-nin one day and she was just trying to help. "Wait, you know what, I'm hungry, let's go get some grub."

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry too," Kaoru said, giving a pleading look toward his sister. Karin threw her arms in the air exasperatedly, and started walking to the food shops, muttering something about always being hungry. So Layuki got on Kaoru's back once more and they followed their teammate.

"This is insane," Squad 9 stood there gaping at the two people in Ichiraku Ramen. On one side of the booth, Uzumaki Naruto was slurping away at his ramen and on the other side Akimichi Chouji was on the other side doing the same thing. Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino were sitting in the middle, looking utterly disgusted. What was more was that both the boys had bowls stacked extremely high. Sakura and Sasuke seemed to have made a sensible decision and were nowhere in sight.

"Erm, let's go to the barbeque shop, Ino, Shikamaru, do you want to come?" Karin suggested. Shikamaru and Ino were at the door of the shop before Kaoru, or Karin had even turned around. Layuki of course was on Kaoru's back and had no need to turn around.

"What did you do this time?" Ino asked, as the five were waiting for their food, "I mean, you can't even walk!"

"How do you know I can't walk? He could be just carrying me because he wants to, right Kaoru-_kun_?" Layuki said, tuning to Kaoru and giving Ino a sideways glance at the same time. She saw her stiffen up and look away. Then she saw Kaoru raise an eyebrow; to her behaviour or to Ino's she didn't know.

"Quit being so troublesome," Shikamaru said, not even looking up at her.

Layuki turned forward and shrugged, "Did I ever mention that I hate Neji?" She said, twirling her straw around in her drink.

"You're either really brave or really stupid. Me, I'm going with the really stupid part. Did it even occur to you that Neji's a damn prodigy?" Ino said, sternly, but Layuki could tell she was hiding a smile.

"Well, I could secretly be a prodigy too!"

"Actually, if you went to class once in a while, you probably could be," Karin added, thoughtfully.

"See! There's proof that I could be a prodigy," It looked like the argument would have continued, if their food had not come. So squad 9 bid farewell to Shikamaru and Ino and wished them good luck tomorrow. Then each of them went their separate ways, all excited and somewhat worried about the exams the next day.

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So there's chappie 4! Thanks for reading!! Reviews are highly appreciated!!!  
**fanny-kun**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **The number of reviews have is really starting to bother me. There's lots of people who have this fic on their alert list, but I still have no reviews. It makes me sad ): Anyways here's chapter five.

**Disclaimer: **I envy Kishimoto for owning Naruto. I envy him so much.

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"Karin, where are you going? We're supposed to go to the third floor, and this is it." Layuki said, pointing to the sign that said 'third floor'.

"Seriously, Layuki, something's wrong with you today. Even I noticed and I'm horrible at genjutsu." Kaoru said.

Layuki titled her head and shrugged. She was feeling kind of out of it today for some reason. So she continued to follow her teammates

Somewhere further down the hall there was a bunch of people gathered up at the door. She told her teammates she wanted to check this out and she went to see what was going on. There, she saw Neji and his team getting beat up pretty badly. She let out a quiet humourless laugh, they were horrible actors.

"Never mind, I don't particularly want to see this," Layuki said to herself and ran to catch up with her twins' who were already at the staircase.

They entered a room full of shinobi from various villages. Layuki let out a cry of glee when she saw Shikamaru and his team sitting not to far away.

"Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji! Hey!" she said happily, not caring about the glares she got from the other occupants of the room. Karin and Kaoru followed her as she made her way toward her friends. Soon the door opened again and Neji, Tenten, and Lee come in. Layuki smiled at Tenten and Lee and gave Neji a cold glare before turning away.

"Jeez, are all the rookies taking these troublesome exams?" Shikamaru said tiredly as Naruto's group walked in.

"Yeah, they are," Kaoru said, "something about improving our skills and shit like that."

They followed Ino, who had gone to give Sasuke a hug, much to his dismay. Kiba's group soon arrived and everyone fooled around for a bit.

Then, a boy who introduced himself as Yakushi Kabuto came over and told them all to quiet down. Something went on about cards and Sasuke wanting to look up two people. Layuki tuned out and looked around the room. Finally she saw him. The sand ninja with the 'love' kanji inscribed in his forehead. She stared at him for a while, his aquamarine eyes mesmerizing her, and then some part of the conversation caught her attention.

"Amazing! He did a B-rank mission as a genin. He's not from Konohagakure, and he's never taken the exam before, so I don't have much information on him. Apparently he came back from all his missions unhurt." Kabuto said.

Layuki looked at the small picture harder. She whispered his name to herself, '_Gaara_', for some reason, the sound of his name fitted him. Finally tuning back into the conversation, she found it was pretty much over.

Naruto started shuddering, his face was hidden because he was looking down.

"Naruto, there's no reason to be scared," Sakura started.

Naruto's head shot up revealing a large grin. He looked at all the shinobi in the room and pointed a finger towards them. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm not going to lose to any of you! Believe it!"

Everything was quiet for a second; then silence was broken by Layuki's laughter.

"Haha, did you see his face? Haha he looked so serious, hah," She said, laughing between her words. "Hah, it's like he's trying to get us all killed, hahaha. Damn Naruto you're hilarious." By now, most of the glares that were aimed at Naruto were directed at her.

"They probably really want to kill us now, just shut up!" Kaoru hissed into her ear. Layuki covered her mouth with her hand and the sound stopped. But she continued shaking with laughter.

Sakura quickly apologized to everybody for Naruto's behaviour. Then suddenly Kabuto was attacked by a bandaged ninja wearing an Otogakure headband. Layuki's laughter halted immediately and she looked at the sound ninja curiously, head tilted. From what she saw, Kabuto's glasses broke, but the sound ninja didn't even touch him.

Curious, Layuki activated her Hirukagan. She was surprised to say the least; she didn't know sound could actually break objects. She was about to open her mouth, but then the proctor appeared.

At first you couldn't see anything but a very large puff of smoke. As it cleared, it revealed not just one person, but also about twenty others, presumably chuunin. The man in the centre was by far the most intimidating. Scars covered his face and he stood with an air of importance.

"I will be your first examiner for these exams. My name is Morino Ibiki, sorry to keep you all waiting." He said in a deep voice, "First let me say this, there will be no fighting unless first given permission by your examiners." It seemed this was directed especially toward the sound ninja. Then he continued, "The first exam will be a written one. Hand in your application forms and sit where your number says, go."

"He's not very specific is he?" Layuki sighed. Everyone ignored her and moved to hand in their papers. She was dragged along by her teammates.

Layuki looked down at her number tiredly. 27. Turning to her teammates she asked what their numbers were.

"54," Kaoru said while Karin said "32"

They wished each other luck and went to their seats. As fate would have it, she found her seat was behind none other than Gaara. He didn't look at her as she passed, even though she was blatantly staring at him. When she sat down she looked around. She found out that she was basically cut off from the rest of the rookies except for Sasuke, who was sitting a couple seats down from her.

Ibiki explained the rules and looked around the room, still somewhat paying attention. There were many people in taking this test, and every one of the looked determined. When she heard Ibiki say something about cheating, she got curious. They were giving them five chances when usually people get disqualified after being caught once. Wondering what he was thinking, she activated her Hirukagan and found out that they were testing observation skills. She sat back in her chair and grinned. This was going to be a piece of cake.

When they got the paper, she read it over a frowned. Those nine questions were practically impossible and if she copied people with the wrong answers, it would be a problem. She looked around the room and saw people starting to write, who looked like they knew what they were doing? Finally her eyes rested on Gaara, who had sand swirling around on his desk.

Tilting her head she decided he was perfect, after all, she was very curious about him. Layuki concentrated in his direction and when she thought she was in his head, a large stab of pain went through her eyes. She dropped her pencil, clapped her hands to her head and let out an audible scream of pain. She felt dozens of pairs of eyes on her, and the pain had barely subsided.

"Number 27, are you alright?" Came a voice of one of the chuunin near her. Head down, she waited a couple seconds till the pain was just a small throb and looked up.

"I'm fine," she answered and turned back to her paper. When she was sure most of the eyes on her had turned away, she looked at Gaara again. He was different, that was for sure. She though it was strange, the only other time she had felt that pain was years ago when she tried to read Naruto's mind. Later she overheard some people talking and discovered that he was a jinchuuriki, a demon host. She knew her sister was in the Akatsuki, and some reading she did she found out that the Akatsuki were after the demons for some reason. Tilting her head, she wondered if Gaara was a demon host as well.

Looking at the clock, she realised that she only had another fifteen minutes to finish. Turning her head, she saw Karin and Kaoru, who seemed to be getting information rather well. She figured, Sasuke would be a good source of information and copied down his answers.

When she found out about the tenth question, she wasn't worried in the least. As long as there were other people here, she would get it right and she knew Karin and Kaoru would try their best as well. Unexpectedly, though, they all passed without having to write another word. Layuki tuned out for the lecture and continued pondering about the mystery about the boy in front of her.

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**A/N: **Kay, well with school and all, finding time is pretty hard. So expect an update in a week or so (: Thanks for reading.  
**fanny-kun**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Sorry I took so long to update. Blame school. Also, thanks soooo much to my three wonderful reviewers :D

**Disclaimer:** I own. I so totally own. In my dreams..

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Layuki's eyes were opened wide as she was listening to the second proctor, Mitarashi Anko explain about the Forest of death. Kaoru and Karin had interested looks on they're faces while Layuki's face was covered with shock. 

"I don't like this, I really don't like this. In fact, I think I hate it." Layuki said to her teammates. "Let's get this over with quickly," Then, suddenly, a kunai flew at her and landed two inches above her head and it lodged into the tree behind her.

"Hey, you! I'm talking here, and when I talk you don't, you listen!" Anko yelled at her before resuming her lecture. Layuki sighed and paid attention, for about five seconds, then due to her short attention span, she tuned out and looked at the rest of the genin.

There were about 70 people left, and in her head Layuki decided which ones to target and which ones to avoid. She would prefer not attack any of the other rookies. She also didn't want to stay in the forest for a long time, so no matter how cowardly it is; she wanted to target what looked like weak groups. Gaara's group was also on the avoid list. Layuki had a feeling that if it came to killing, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Alright you maggots! Sign this form and bring it to the desk to exchange it for a scroll!" Anko said as she finished talking.

"Why do we need to sign the forms?" Somebody asked.

Anko smirked, "'Cause if you don't, then it'll be my responsibility if you die, silly isn't it?"

"You know what, I like her attitude," Layuki said as they walked toward the exchange booth. Her teammates groaned.

"If you start acting like that, I might have to kill you," Kaoru said, annoyed.

Layuki gave a dramatic gasp, "You wouldn't!" By then they had reached the booth and the handed in the papers and got an earth scroll in return. Layuki took it and once they got out she threw it at the twins, Karin caught it, confused.

"One of you should carry it. I'll probably lose it; remember what happened to my weapons pouch? It's probably still sitting in that stream." Layuki said while patting her new weapons pouch.

"You sure?" Karin asked. When she got a 'yes' from Layuki she looked at her brother, as if to as whether or not he wanted it. Since Kaoru didn't reply, Karin shrugged and put it in her own pouch.

They still had another couple minutes so they walked around for a bit. As the rounded the corner, Layuki walked straight into someone, hard. Since that someone was apparently bigger than she was, she started to fall and somehow she landed right on top of that person.

"Watch it Fuyaku," Came Neji's angry voice. At first she thought it was Neji that she had crashed into, but then thinking a bit, the build of the figure was too slight to belong to a male. The person underneath her suddenly jerked upwards, making Layuki slide off. Finally looking up, she saw Neji pulling Tenten up to her feet.

"Oh Tenten, it's you! Sorry, my bad," Layuki said, also getting up on her feet. By now Neji was already walking away, and was dragging Tenten along beside him, but she managed to turn around to give her a smile. Rock Lee gave them a salute and walked off after his teammates.

"Er, that was…interesting. Well then, should we go now to our gate? Number 12 right?" Karin said starting to walk. They arrived at the gate and waited for the signal to head in.

Once they were in, the three of the started to run as fast as they could. Though Layuki knew they were already going faster than necessary and her teammates were nearing their limit, she couldn't help but feel they were going too slow. Of course, compared to her usual speed, this was like comparing a snake to a cheetah. They didn't know where they were running to, but all three of them wanted to get out of the forest. Even being out in the open was better than somewhere where you could get eaten and not even realize.

Finally, they heard running water and soon the trees cleared out to reveal a stream the lead straight to the red tower they were supposed to meet at.

"Looks like we got lucky," Karin States looking around, "I suspect most people got a gate that lead in to a mass of trees,"

"Hang, on. Let me climb a tree and take a look," Layuki said, focusing her chakra to her feet and climbing up the nearest tree. Once she was at the top of that she jumped from tree to tree until she couldn't get any higher. Sure enough, there was only one line of clear land that held a stream and the tower they were supposed to go to, and the rest of the training ground was thick with trees.

Going back down, she found her teammates were waiting patiently for her. Layuki activated her Hirukagan and concentrated in the surroundings. When she was sure nobody was there, she began to talk.

"Okay, I think we should stay here and out of the forest most of the time. I really don't trust this place at all, what do you think?" Layuki said

"Agreed. But I think we should split up and hunt down a scroll, it'll be faster," Kaoru said. His sister shook her head.

"I don't think so. What if we run into a really strong group, don't forget, Kaoru, we just graduated from the academy this year," Karin said, thinking everything through, "It would be best if we stayed together,"

Kaoru opened his mouth to reply, but Layuki cut him off, "I agree with her. Majority rules," Kaoru just shrugged and followed along. He knew better than to argue back.

"Well then, we should be off," Layuki was about to turn around when she swore under her breath. She whispered quietly and inconspicuously to her teammates, "There's a group of ninja in those trees, and judging by their chakra, they're fairly high leveled. Keep quiet and pretend you don't know they're there," Both of them slightly nodded their heads to show Layuki that they had gotten her point. "Also, if any of us get taken hostage, we won't go after, agreed? Because that's what they'll want us to do. I'm almost positive that none of us will get killed," The twins' faces drained of its colour, nodding nonetheless. "Right, get prepared, they're going to attack now," Layuki said, her hand already at her weapons pouch.

She took a shruiken and threw it as the shinobi jumped from the trees. It hit a tree, but the little bit of blood that was dripping down told her that she had hit flesh. Kaoru, Karin and Layuki moved so they were standing back-to-back while the other ninja surrounded them. Layuki noticed the sign on their headbands, a kind of squiggle the represented Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, her own clan's origin. She frowned, she was at a disadvantage; her attacks were lightning and electricity and cloud ninja were without a doubt familiar with them. Though one thing to her advantage was the trees, Kumogakure barely had any.

"Alright kiddos, hand over your scroll and we won't kill ya," Layuki looked towards the person who said it. He was a tall ninja, bigger than her by at least a foot, and he also had a strong build. He looked strong, but slow and his orange hair would be easy to spot. The girl next to him looked much more of a threat to Layuki. She looked like she was built for speed and stood about a head over Layuki and looked at her with unexplained hatred, though it was probably from the cut Layuki just have her, but she had a feeling that wasn't the whole reason. The girl's brown hair was well past her waist and looked as if it could be used with her fighting. When Layuki saw the last boy she thought he looked familiar. Then she remembered he must be a member of the Anzoka Clan. She sighed in relief, that clan hated to kill.

Suddenly something made her move harshly forwards and she felt a kunai at he neck, she swore for letting her guard down. Then a soft and somewhat dreamy voice spoke into her ear.

"Well, well. Looks like we have a Fuyaku, and here I was thinking that they were all dead," Layuki turned slightly and saw the violet eyes and white hair of the Anzoka clan. She had already moved her arm to the weapons pouch and clutched onto a kunai, ready to take it out and plunge it into her captor's body at a moments notice, "Ah, I wouldn't to that if I were you," The boy said. He turned around so she could see her teammates, who were in the same position she was. "You see, my friend Meyumi doesn't like the Fuyaku's much, and I doubt she would hesitate to kill your pretty little friend if it came down to it. Though, the colour of her hair and her blood would make a really pretty sight, don't you think?"

Layuki swore, just her luck. She and her teammates hadn't even been the forest for an hour and they were already in a tight situation.

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**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Reviews help me think (:  
**fanny-kun**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thanks to my wonderful reviewers: Dark Will To Die, Adorkable93, pik.and.Mable, Luffly Emi, Lelope, shunie102 and LOPE. All you're reviews really made me happy (: Well here's chapter seven. This one contains only OCs and none of the Naruto characters are actually in here, but yeah..xP

**Disclaimer:** I am a Naruto fan. This is a Naruto _fan_fiction. Obviously, I do not own.

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The Anzoka clan was a powerful and well-respected clan spread all around the lightning country. The clan's trademark was the snow-white hair and the violet eyes every member possessed. At some point in time, the Anzoka's were also known by their friendship with the Fuyaku clan. What's more, the clan's bloodline limit is their healing abilities. They can heal wounds at will, both on themselves and others. Due to their love of nature and all living things they were against killing, however if it came to it, they would choose their own lives above other people's. This particular Anzoka was named Arimayu, and was currently holding Fuyaku Layuki hostage. Anzoka Arimayu was different from his clan in one way, he didn't mind killing. In fact, he thought it was an easy way to solve problems.

Layuki struggled against his grasp; unfortunately strength wasn't exactly her specialty. She winced as she felt her warm blood drip slowly down her neck from where Arimayu put pressure on the kunai. She looked around her for something to use to her advantage. Noticing the stream she struggled harder, hoping to move back enough to make the boy holding her fall into the water. Before anything happened, she saw Karin begin to melt.

"What the hell?" She hadn't noticed she said this out loud until the words left her mouth. She continued to stare bewilderedly at her friend, who was currently a lump of goo. Turning to her other teammate she found that he was in the same state as his sister, but instead, the boy that was holding him was lying face down on the ground, dead. This was definitely a jutsu she hadn't seen before. This was when she noticed the grip of the Anzoka had loosened considerably. Thanking Kami and her teammates she took the kunai she was still gripping and jabbed it hard into the body behind her and ran into the trees, not even bothering to look behind. She sent a steady flow of chakra to her feet to speed up. Then suddenly, the girl appeared in front of her out of nowhere.

Ukushi Meyumi was beautiful in a cruel and twisted way. Her eyes were amber and slanted, much like a cat's. Brown hair reached just past her mid-thigh, the ends were greyish silver, the same colour as the blade of the katana she wielded. Her features were sharp and her movements were graceful. She and Arimayu were the perfect fighting pair.

She did fast hand signs and suddenly her hair grew even longer and it flew towards Layuki, no doubt aiming to strangle and kill her. Layuki swore as she sensed the Anzoka's chakra behind her, she had forgotten that he could heal himself. She quickly dodged the hair attack, moved up to the girl, and punched her in the face, a massive amount of chakra focused in her hand. She continued to run, but she was almost sure she saw one of Meyumi's eyes pop out. Before she could leave, she felt an enormous amount of pain in the small of her back but she continued to run.

When she was positive she was far enough, she turned as best she could to look at her injury. There, she saw a silver katana, stuck about an inch into her body. She pulled the sword out and fell to her knees.

She groaned quietly as the bushes in front of her rustled. She stood up; wielding the katana in front of her, it didn't even occur to her that she should hide. She stood there then she saw two heads of red appear, bruised and cut, but pretty much unharmed. They ran towards her, but she held up the katana.

"What happened two days ago?" She demanded, still holding the sword.

"You almost drowned, and I had to carry you the rest of the day because you couldn't walk," Kaoru answered after a brief pause.

Layuki nodded, lowering the katana. Grinning she said, "That was a pretty dandy jutsu back there, I didn't even see you make the hand signs," Then, she fainted.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Oh Kami, Layuki! Stay still!" Karin ordered as she was patching up the other girl's wound. Layuki had fallen unconscious for about two hours, and since she woke up (about ten minutes ago) she had been complaining and trying to struggle out of Karin's grasp.

"But that cream is so cold, and you're making it hurt and – OW! What was that for?" Layuki screamed as Karin tightened the bandage around the small of Layuki's back. Once she knew she was finished, Layuki stood up and threw her shirt back on. (**A/N:** Don't worry, she has bandages wrapped tightly around her chest, remember:P) The three had returned to the stream, though farther down than they were earlier.

"Ugh, I'm so pissed! I mean, we couldn't even get their scroll!" Layuki said punching the tree that Kaoru was leaning against. He looked up at her, mild surprise showing in his eyes.

"Did I forget to tell you? That big guy had the scroll; I snatched it from him when I killed him. But it's no use, its another earth scroll; we're looking for a heaven one." He took the scroll out from his weapons pouch and handed it over to Layuki, who looked at it for a couple seconds. Then she focused charka to her hand the scroll burst into blue flames.

"What the hell? Why'd you do that? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get that?" Kaoru said angrily as the ashes of his hard work fell to the ground. Layuki looked up at him tiredly.

"Sorry, but like you said, we have no use for it. Besides, when I burnt it, it means that another group won't be able to get it, therefore we just eliminated a group," Layuki walked over to the stream to look at the fish swimming around in it. The she turned around and looked at her teammates, "I've been thinking, maybe Kaoru's right. If we split up then it will be a lot faster," She waited for Karin to nod, "maybe we should meet back here in about two hours, if we see a strong group just run and whatever you do, don't lead them here." They agreed on the plan and they ran in separate directions through the trees.

Before long, Layuki came upon three ninja she didn't recognize, but by their chakra she thought she could take them, even though she was hurt. They were ninja from the rain.

Hiding up in the tree she was camouflaged by the leaves, she grabbed a kunai and waited, like a cat preying on a mouse. Soon, one of the members started to stray behind, saying something about dropping a kunai. Layuki took this as the chance she was waiting for and attacked him. Stabbing him in the back and throwing his limp, but still alive body aside. Seeing that he didn't have the scroll, she did hand signs and transformed into the ninja.

"Yo, Natsumaya, did ya find it?" One of the rain-nin asked her.

She shrugged, cautious even though she knew she had done the transformation perfectly, "Nah, must've dropped it earlier," When the teammates turned around Layuki transformed back into herself and stabbed one of the ninja, who immediately collapsed. Turning to the other one, she pinned him against the tree, surprisingly he was only about two inches taller than her, and held a kunai to his neck.

"Give me your scroll and I'll spare your life and those of your teammates. And don't even think of attacking, I'll just kick you puny little ass." She said menacingly, when he moved to his weapons pouch. He scowled and threw over the scroll. Layuki took it and hit him in the head to knock him out. She added an extra kick to his head when she saw it was an earth scroll as well.

"Does everyone have an earth scroll or something?" She asked herself angrily, but she pocketed this one just in case.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," A cruel voice said from behind her. She swore as she turned around and saw a white-haired shinobi. "You and your friends made me very sad when you killed my team," He said, cocking his head to his side, his violet eyes were screaming murder. "How could you do that to me? We were childhood friends after all," He said taking a step closer.

Layuki could feel herself shaking; she didn't like this guy at all. And the fact that he said they were childhood friends made it even worse, she didn't remember him at all. "Nice try Anzoka, but I didn't know you. And if you knew me then you would have known how much my father hated me, you would have known he wouldn't let me associate with a clan as high class as the Anzoka's," Layuki said, controlling her voice.

Arimayu head was still tilted and he grinned like a little kid who just got praised. "Then it must have been your sister, you two look so much a like. Oh my," He said, as he ducked a kunai that was thrown by a very angry Layuki.

"Don't talk about my sister like that! She wouldn't go as low as to be friends with someone like you," She hissed. But the boy merely laughed.

"You're such a gullible girl aren't you? You probably thought the reason you're alive is that your sister cared for you? Did it even occur to you that she didn't have the time to go all the way back to the apartment, that the ANBU would be there in mere minutes. She's part of the Akatsuki now, and she's after that Uzumaki boy. Next time she sees you, you're as good as dead." He said, tauntingly. He expected her to cry, he expected her to scream at him, he expected her to completely collapse. Obviously, he didn't know her at all. Before he could even move, Layuki had plunged a kunai directly into his heart. He smiled and said, "Good luck" before hitting the ground, dead.

Layuki clutched the kunai so hard her knuckles were white; it was all she could do to keep from crying. She hadn't cried in a year, and she wasn't about to now. She looked down at herself. She hadn't realized how bloody she was. Her lower back was caked with her own dried blood, the front of her had blood splattered everywhere, and her were wet with newly shed blood.

She fell to her knees, shaking and staring at her hands. This was the first person she had killed, and stayed long enough to actually watch them die. Before, it kind of a hit-and-run, and this felt worse by far. And that boy, what did he mean by 'good luck'? Good luck in surviving her sister? Good luck in the exams? Good luck what?

She sighed and looked up, surprised to be able to see the sun. She noted that she had about an hour left before she had to meet her team. So she began to run through the trees again, trying not to let Anzoka Arimayu bother her too much.

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**A/N: **I guess this chapter was kind of a filler, I didn't like it that much, so I'll try to make the next chappie better (: Thanks for reading, it's really appreciated!!  
**fanny-kun**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Yay I updated! Haha, I didn't think that the last chapter was that great, so I have bestowed (did I spell that right?) chappie 8 upon you all, so enjoy! (:

**Disclaimer:** I'm running out of things to say here...oh and by the way, I do not own.

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"Wake up," A voiced hissed into Layuki's ear, she turned over, her eyes still closed, and tried to wave it away. "Troublesome girl" The voice said as Layuki heard someone standing up beside her. Layuki finally opened her eyes when she felt a foot hit the side of her head. 

"Owww, what the hell was that for?" She said, it was then that she realized that she didn't know where she was. Looking up she saw and annoyed looking Shikamaru tiredly looking down at her. "What the hell are you doing here?" She glared up at him.

He shrugged, "We found you lying on the ground not long ago, for a second there we thought you were dead. Unfortunately, here you are," Layuki was sitting up now; looking down she saw fresh bandages around her stomach. Confused she looked up at Shikamaru. He looked down at her tiredly; he didn't look like he was going to answer.

"That's a pretty bad cut you have there, you were bleeding like mad when we found you," Turning to the source of the voice she saw Ino, who was dragging Chouji out of the forest. "I bandaged you up, but you might want to get Karin to look at it, she's better with that kind of stuff than I am." She said. Layuki looked up to the sky and she swore; she was half an hour late.

"Sorry, I have to run, by the way, do you have a heaven scroll?" When she got a nod she took the earth scroll out of her pouch and threw it at Shikamaru. "Think of that as a thank you present, I don't need it. See you at the tower!" Then she ran off.

When she reached their meeting spot she saw Karin bending over a fire and Kaoru in the water, attempting to get fish. She sat inconspicuously on a rock and pretended she was there the whole time.

"You're late," Karin said looking at her, "Did you get a scroll?"

"Uhm, I got another earth one, but I gave that to Shikamaru's group," She said cautiously hoping she wouldn't get yelled at. Karin gave her a weird look, but didn't say anything because Kaoru had thrown a fish at her. She threw it to Layuki and told her to gut it. Layuki gave her a disgusted look but took out a kunai and cut open the fish's stomach nonetheless.

"You have it to Ino-san's group?" Asked Kaoru as he came out of the water, holding two more squirming fish. Layuki looked away for a second as she used her had to scoop out the fish's stomach, and then she threw it into the trees, hoping to feed some starved animal.

"As I recall, I said I got it from _Shikamaru's_ group, but yeah, that too. And before you ask it's because they saved me," She said throwing the gutted fish at Karin so could put it in the fire.

"Seriously? What did you do this time?" Karin asked as she watched he brother throw another fish to Layuki, he gutted the last fish himself. Layuki shrugged.

"My wound opened up again I guess, apparently I lost a lot of blood." She answered. Changing the subject she said, "So did either of you two get a scroll?" Karin nodded and took out both the heaven scroll and the earth scroll from her pouch and laid them side-by-side on the ground.

"I snatched it from some mist ninja, doubt they even noticed," Karin said.

"Sweet, this means we can start going to the tower after we eat. I say we have another three hours till sundown," Layuki stated looking up at the sky.

"I'll never know how you can tell that by just looking up," Kaoru chuckled looking up at the sky and only seeing blue. "I mean, the sun looks like it's in the same spot all day long to me,"

Layuki smiled sadly, "My onee-chan taught me how to navigate with the sky, both day and night. I guess figuring out the time just came with the package. The fish look ready, let's dig in." She said, grabbing a fish on a stick and blowing it to cool it down.

The three finished the meal pretty fast and they started to leave. "Thank Kami we don't have to spend the night in this place. We've been in only five hours and it's already on my bad side," Layuki said while they walked to the tower. They saw no need to run and decided to save energy incase they came across any enemy ninja.

Halfway there, Layuki felt the need to activate her Hirukagan and, without knowing why, she obeyed to that need, concentrating on nothing in particular. Suddenly, out of no where she felt the same pain through her eyes that she had felt during the first exams when she had tried to pry into Gaara's mind. Only now, the pain was almost unbearably stronger, he was preparing to kill.

She let out a cry of pain, falling to her knees for probably the hundredth time today. She covered her eyes with her hands and pressed hard while sitting on her feet and rocking her body back and forth, as if it would ease the pain. Cries continued escaping from her mouth even know she had no intention of letting them out, gradually though, they grew quieter and quieter. After when seemed like hours, but was only about ten minutes, she looked up again, blinking away the little stars that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Finally being able to see properly again she looked up at her teammates who were looking down at her with faces of shock.

"I'm sorry. You guys need to go on ahead. There's something I have to do, I'll meet you at the tower." She said apologetically, and then she focused chakra to her feet and ran in the direction the pain came from. The Rutake twins stared after her, bewildered. Then they shrugged and kept on walking, though they each looked into the forest a fair number of times. They also kept their ears open, knowing that they would probably be hearing a scream sometime soon.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Inuzuka Kiba and his squad were looking directly ahead with expressions of shock and horror plastered onto their faces. Blood covered the ground in the clearing like a crimson blanket while sand moved slowly away from the bodies of the Amegakure ninja and back into the gourd that hung on Gaara's back. From Kiba's jacket Akamaru whimpered in fear.

Squad 8 slowly moved backwards, even Shino's usually stoic face showed that he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. But they were too late; Gaara had turned to them, his aquamarine eyes were expressionless, but they knew that all he wanted to do was kill.

_Kill._ Layuki mouthed the word as she sat up in the tree watching the scene. She had concealed her chakra as best she could so nobody would notice her. _Kill_. She whispered it this time, as if she was tasting the word. Today she had killed for the first time, but the redheaded boy made it obvious that he killed for a living. Suddenly anger flowed through Layuki as she thought of the numerous amounts on innocent lives that boy must have taken. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to kill _Gaara_. But she feared him, she feared him more than anything in the world. Yet there was a voice in the back of her head that said she didn't fear him, instead it said that she feared _for_ him.

The sand was formed in the shape of a fist now. The boy was looking over at the three genin hiding behind the bush; he was obeying his need to kill, despite the protests of his siblings. The sand-fist pulled back and moved with incredible speed, but instead of hitting three bodies, it hit only one. It hit the small body of an injured girl who was looking at Gaara with eyes of malice.

Gaara's eyes were opened wide, apparently surprised that someone would give up their own life for someone else's. Layuki watched as the sand slowly made its way back to the gourd. Then she found out that she could barely breathe and that she was still standing in front of her friends with her arms spread out. She collapsed on the ground and she could feel the blood gushing out of her mouth, her blooded tasted like salty iron, but sweet at the same time. She actually smiled for a second, surprised. This was the first time she had tasted her own blood. She saw two feet in front of her and she looked up to see Gaara standing over her and looking down at her as if she was just a piece of garbage.

Slowly, with all the strength she could muster, Layuki stood up and found that her body was just a few inches from his. Staring straight, she saw his mouth that was formed into a confused frown. Slowly still she spread her arms so she was in the same position as she was before she fell.

"I couldn't care less about who you kill," She was surprised by the way her voice sounded. It sounded like sandpaper scraping against metal. Now she made a snarling noise and shouted at him, "Just stay away from my friends!"

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**A/N:** I forgot to thank my reviewers at the beginning, so I'll do so now. Thank you for everyone who reviewed, you guys really made my day. And I think that this chapter was better than the last one..anyways thanks for taking the time and reading!  
**fanny-kun**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I honestly see no point in school, it's so time consuming. Anyways I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers for sticking with my fic. Enjoy chapter nine. (:

**Disclaimer:** The only time I own Naruto is when I'm dreaming.

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A normal person would run away in a situation like this. A smart person wouldn't have gotten into this situation to begin with. But here Layuki was, and it was unknown to her whether it was fear or determination that kept her rooted to the spot in front of the boy who had just tried to kill her friends. That's when the question passed through her head._Why wasn't she dead yet?_

She knew it was suicidal to jump in front of that attack, she knew she should have died when it hit her. But she could still feel the breath come out of her, and she could still her heart thumping against her chest. It was now that she dared to look into Gaara's eyes, expecting to see them emotionless as usual. But now they were filled with genuine confusion, even though his face showed pure hatred. She stared at his eyes, mesmerized by them once more. Then she closed her eyes tightly and screamed as loud as she could.

It wasn't a scream of fear. It wasn't a scream of pain. It wasn't even a scream of anger. It was just a pointless scream that Layuki needed to get out of her system. After she finished she opened her eyes again and somehow managed to activate her Hirukagan. She didn't make the mistake of concentrating on Gaara again; instead she concentrated on his siblings, trying to figure out why she was still standing. She swore quietly when she found out that they didn't know either.

She dropped her arms, which were stretched out, and went into her pocket to take out a kunai. She swore again when she found out she couldn't move her fingers.

She couldn't fight. She could barely move. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life. She closed her eyes, ready to die. The she heard feet moving. She opened her eyes one more time and saw that Gaara was walking away from her. He walked passed his siblings without even stopping, and they followed him. Soon, the sand ninja were gone.

"L-Layuki-chan?" She heard Hinata's quiet voice behind her. She turned around and smiled. Then, she let the consciousness that she had been trying to keep flow away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Ah, it's about time we heard it," Kaoru said when he heard a scream pierce through the trees. "I just didn't expect her to be the one screaming. Kami, if she's dead I'm going to kill her."

"Do you think she's alright?" Karin said. She and her brother were sitting at the base of the red tower, waiting for Layuki to show up.

"She better be. We're practically finished this exam," Kaoru said, though there was a hint of concern in his voice. They waited a couple more minutes, and then they heard the bushes rustle. Standing up, the twins each took out a kunai and stood in fighting position, expecting and enemy ninja to some out. Instead they saw Kiba, Hinata, and Shino come out of the bushes. Layuki was behind them, lying on what seemed to be a bundle of little black…bugs.

"We have your teammate here. We didn't want to move her so we brought her over on Shino's bugs," Kiba explained, somewhat awkwardly.

"Shit! What the hell happened?" Kaoru exclaimed putting his kunai away and running a hand through his red hair. "You didn't do this to her did you?" He glared at them.

"N-no! Of c-course not! W-we would ne-never do that t-to Layuki-chan!" Hinata said appalled.

"Calm down, it's okay Hinata, he wasn't blaming you," Karin said while pushing her brother's head down. "Could you tell us what happened?"

Team 8 explained the story and when they finished Karin pondered for a minute.

"Gaara. I swear I've heard that name somewhere before…oh! Gaara's the youngest son of the Kazekage, I read that in a book somewhere," Then her face drained of its colour and horror was etched into her features. "You mean it was Gaara that made her like this? Damn, this day couldn't get any worse! We need to get her to the infirmary fast. Thanks for the help, but we can take it from here." Karin did some hand signs and two clones appeared and they picked Layuki off the bugs very carefully. Saying a quick goodbye, Karin and Kaoru ran off to the door they found earlier, the clones following close behind.

When they got through the door the first thing they saw was a large framed banner hanging on the wall.

'_If you open both Heaven and Earth Scrolls, dangerous paths become safe ones. This is the secret of it shall lead you on your way.'_

"What does that mean?" The twins' spun around when they heard her coarse voice; the clones had popped away already. Layuki was propped up on her one of her elbows staring up at the banner.

"Baka, lie down. You're in a bad enough of a condition as it is." Kaoru hissed at her while he and his sister sat down.

"I'm guessing it means we have to open the scrolls," Karin said, taking the scrolls out of her pouch. "Here goes nothing," She opened both the scrolls and threw them in front of her. At first, nothing happened. But then there was a puff of smoke and a chuunin with a bandage across his nose appeared when the smoke cleared, they knew him as Kotetsu and he seemed to be looking at his watch.

"It's only been six hours. You guys are here awfully early," He looked at them suspiciously, "you didn't cheat did you?"

"No. We didn't. And we don't have time for this. We need to get to the infirmary, now." Kaoru said, standing up. Kotetsu looked over at Layuki and seemed to decide that the situation wasn't serious enough for him to skip his speech.

"I'll cut what I'm about to say short for the sake of your friend. But listen carefully to my words." He explained about how heaven represented the mind and how earth represented the body. He also explained why you needed to be able to know how to use both of these if you were to become a chuunin. "That's all I have to say. Go out that door and turn left. You should come across the infirmary soon. Good luck," Then he vanished in a puff of smoke once more.

Karin made another two clones to carry Layuki, despite her protests and they walked in the direction Kotetsu informed them of. They reached it and handed Layuki to the medics despite her protests. Soon though, they were shooed away and were told that she would be fine, after intense treatment. They weren't even sure if she was fit to fight in the preliminaries. Of course, the twins didn't know what the meant by 'preliminaries' but left the infirmary to explore the tower.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki wasn't sure what time it was, or even what day but since all the lights were off she guessed that it was night. Turning her head she looked at the machine she was attached to that was measuring her heartbeats. Looking at her arms she saw at least half a dozen tubes connected to different placed. Her body still felt stiff and she still couldn't move. She sighed and wondered when she would be able to get out of this place. It was silent except for a quiet slithering noise.

Layuki froze. Slithering noise? There shouldn't be _any_ noise. With much pain she sat halfway up and looked around. Her eyes opened in horror at what she saw coming toward her bed.

She would have screamed as loud as she could if it weren't for the sand that was covering her mouth.

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**A/N:** Ah, this chapter was short. I apologise for that. Thanks for reading, expect the next chapter in a week-ish (:  
**fanny-kun**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Happy two days after Halloween! Hope you all enjoyed your candy, I certainly did :D. Anyways I'd like to say thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers. Here's Chapter 10.

**Disclaimer:** I did not own Naruto when I started this fic, nor do I own it now.

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The thing in front of her was so deformed that Layuki actually found herself staring at it in awe, despite the fear that she felt in the pit of her stomach. Half of the figure was in the shape of a normal person, but the other half… 

Layuki shivered and moved a hand to the sand around her mouth, that's when she discovered it wasn't just her mouth that was covered in sand; her whole body was too. She felt the panic begin to rise and the same time she felt the sand begin to squeeze tightly until it was almost too hard to breathe. She tried to scream, despite the sand, and she was quite surprised when she heard a groan. Until she discovered that the sound didn't come from her.

The human half of the thing raised its hand to its face and ducked its head. The monster part stopped moving for a second. To Layuki it seemed like the two halves were having some sort of argument.

In that moment, she realised that if she didn't do something, fast, she would die. If she could of, she would have screamed in frustration. Lately, it seemed like the world had suddenly turned on her and everyone she met was trying to kill her. She used her remaining energy to attack while the thing was debating what to do.

Gathering strength she forced her right hand to do hand signs while she focused chakra into her left hand to try to sweep the sand away. Managing her hand signs she smiled underneath her sand mask as she felt the electricity run through her body. She forced it out experimentally and felt hope when she saw that the sand lifted a centimetre off her skin when it came in contact with the lightning. Layuki concentrated hard and let all of it out. The sand bounced off her skin a whole foot and it quickly shot back, only to grasp onto nothing.

Layuki had managed to gather enough chakra at that time to help her jump to the ceiling. Now, she used chakra in her hands and feet to hold her up there. She was surprised when she found out that the thing didn't even know she had left. But as soon as she thought that, the monster looked up. Slowly the thing morphed back into the shape of a boy. Layuki gasped as she recognised Gaara's red hair. Her gasp quickly turned into a stream of profanities as sand shot upwards at her. Jumped down and landed behind Gaara and she ran as fast as her feet would take her.

She could hear the sand following her and she couldn't help but wonder why he wanted to kill her so much. Suddenly she tripped and almost fell flat or her face. Swearing even more she dodged the sand, got up, and continued running. Now she was holding the bottom her hospital robe up so she wouldn't fall over it again. This was why she hated wearing dresses or skirts. She kept running through the maze of walls and doors. To her, the tower never looked so big on the outside. Once or twice she tried screaming for help, but her voice couldn't take it and soon she couldn't make a sound at all.

All of a sudden pain exploded through her body. The pain that she must have not noticed because of her fear was suddenly so strong that she could barely move. And when she fell this time, she really did fall flat on her face. She tried with all her strength to stand up so she could keep running, but her legs were limp and her arms weren't strong enough to support her little weight. She gave up and let herself fall to the floor. She rolled to her side, ignoring the pain, and forced herself into a ball. She closed her eyes tight and prepared to feel the sand envelop her.

But nothing happened. She opened her eyes and blinked in surprise. Why wasn't anything happening? She lifted her head, not knowing what she was going to see.

A man stood in front of Gaara, he seemed like he was a sensei of some sort from Sunagakure, his head was bandaged and half his face was hidden behind a curtain.

"That's enough Gaara. Do not lose control." The man emphasized the last four words and glared at his pupil. Gaara merely looked at him and walked away.

"That was close Baki," Kankorou's voice made Layuki sit up and look at him in surprise. Temari was standing next to him. Layuki noticed that she didn't feel any pain again, though she wasn't sure why this time. "What are we going to do about the girl though?"

"Leave her here Kankorou," The man named Baki replied, beginning to walk away. "Knock her out first, though. When they find her they won't believe her, they'll just think she needs treatment." With that, he was gone.

Kankorou grinned and walked over to Layuki smirking. He was about to hit her in the back of her head when Temari's voice interrupted. "You're really lucky, you know. You're probably the first person that's survived Gaara twice, in two days. I don't get why he can't kill you, or won't kill you for that matter. But don't count on surviving a third time." Then she too disappeared like her sensei did.

Before Layuki could even blink Kankorou's fist hit her head and she was out cold. Lying in the middle of the hall until someone found her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I'm not crazy. I'm telling the truth!" Layuki said to her teammates through clenched teeth. She had been found where she had been knocked out last night and now she was trying to believe her story. Unfortunately for her, the only thing she got people to believe was that something was wrong with her head.

"Layuki calm down. There's something wrong with your head. There is no evidence that someone tried to kill you last night, it was just a hallucination." Karin said calmly.

"It was _not_ a hallucination. I am perfectly sane, thank you very much!" Layuki was almost yelling now. She somehow resisted the urge to hit someone near her.

"Do you think she can take the preliminaries?" Layuki heard a quiet voice behind her and she turned around to see a nurse talking to a pale man that would not stop coughing.

"She will take the preliminaries, unless - cough, cough - she forfeits of course. But she doesn't seem like the kind - cough - of person to do that." The man replied, coughing between words. Layuki heard her teammates talk to her but she wasn't listening.

"Where is my stuff?" She asked her friends gravely. Karin pointed to the closet. Layuki walked over and grabbed her things. "How many more days are there left for the exam?"

"Today's the last day. Why?" Kaoru answered.

Layuki shrugged. "I want to get out of here soon. I want to go somewhere where people won't think I'm insane,"

"Oh no! Don't do that Layuki, stop trying to make us feel guilty!" Karin whined.

"I'm not, I'm going for a walk." Layuki said, throwing on her clothes. She hadn't felt any pain since she had woken up. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that it wasn't because of the drugs the nurses gave her. Turning on her heel she walked out the infirmary doors, leaving her teammates behind.

She didn't have any particular place in mind, but seeing as today was the last day for the exams, she realized that she hadn't seen the sun for a while. So she made up her mind and walked outside with the intention of soaking up on some vitamin D.

After a couple minutes of waking she began to get irritated. She had walked past many staircases, but she couldn't seem to find the door to go outside. Settling for a window, she walked over to an open one and sat on the ledge.

"How's your head?" Layuki whipped around to look at the person talking. When she saw who it was she gave a huge smile.

"Ohayo Shikamaru. Or would ohayo not be the right word, because it doesn't seem like it's morning anymore," Layuki said, looking out the window once more. She knew that he noticed she avoided his question.

"Does it really matter? If it's morning to you then you say 'good morning' whether it's afternoon or not doesn't matter. Don't worry about such troublesome things, ohayo works perfectly fine."

Layuki grinned. This was one reason she loved talking to Shikamaru, he hardly ever changed the subject. "So you didn't answer my question, how's your head?" Layuki frowned. Well he _hardly _ever changed the subject.

"It's fine," She growled, "but you probably think I have a concussion, don't you? Everyone else thinks so. Where's your team anyways?"

"No I think you're telling the truth. Ino and Chouji are asleep. Unlike you, we just finished." He said tiredly. This actually surprised Layuki.

"You just got in? But didn't I give you and earth scroll a couple days ago? And why aren't you sleeping, it's so unlike you."

"Some other group nicked that scroll, so we needed a new one," He yawned, "and for not being asleep, I'm going now. Try not to be troublesome," And he turned around and walked away. Layuki smiled after him and turned to the window once more.

Four. She counted four times that she had almost been killed in the last couple days. Four times by two people. She groaned, and wondered if she would ever be able to live life without always looking over her shoulder.

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**A/N:** Hope you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to read. Reviews are appreciated ;). Thanks again! (:  
**fanny-kun**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Is it just me or do my chapters seem to get shorter and shorter? I'm really sorry for that. I just started reading _Eclipse_ by Stephanie Meyer, omg her books are so addicting!!

Anyways..sorry again for the short chapter. I almost promise to make the next one long. If not than the one after the next one (: Well, enjoy Chapter Eleven!

**Disclaimer: **Since Kishimoto refuses to give up the copyright, I do not own Naruto.

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"If you wish to leave now, just raise your hand and you may go." Layuki unconsciously began to raise her hand, only to have it smacked back down. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A quiet voice hissed into her ear. Layuki looked around, somewhat alarmed to hear a voice. When she looked around, she was very surprised to find out where she was.

Around her were the remaining groups in the exam, lined up in rows of three. All twelve of the rookies were there, along with Neji's group, the sound trio, and Kabuto's group. Her group stood at the very end of the line, Karin was in front of her and Kaoru was behind her forcing her hand down. All the groups stood in front of large statue of the Buddha, who's hands were formed in a jutsu sign. In front of the Buddha where the proctors, the jounin sensei's, some chuunin's, and the honourable Third Hokage.

Layuki's surprise soon turned to shock, which was mixed with confusion. She didn't remember coming here at all. In fact, the last thing she remembered was flopping down on the couch and sleeping with her head rested on Karin's shoulder. She shook her hand out of Kaoru's and squeezed it into a fist so hard that her knuckles were white and her nails dug into her skin.

She stared at the blood on her palm fascinated. She suddenly had the urge to lick the crimson liquid that was beginning to drip down to her wrist, to taste its bitter sweetness. She shook her head and rubbed the blood off onto her shorts, convinced she wasn't dreaming.

She looked up and saw a silver haired boy raise his hand.

"Sorry, I don't have enough chakra for the preliminaries," Kabuto said calmly, "I'm out." He waved and walked away.

To Layuki's surprise, and apparently several others's, she saw another hand go shakily up into the air. Tenten's eyes were shut and she was looking down, as if she was ashamed of what she was doing.

"I can't do this. I don't have any energy left, I know my limits and I can't fight today. I really don't want to risk losing my life for this. I'm sorry, Neji, Lee." With that, she turned and walked away as well, not looking at anybody.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Layuki, your name was just called. Didn't you hear?" Layuki snapped back into focus and saw Karin looking at her, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Nani?" Layuki's voice was barely above a whisper. She realised that they were now on a platform. She looked over to the large computer screen mounted on the wall.

_Fuyaku Layuki_  
_vs.  
__Temari_

"Oh, It's my turn." She looked up at the computer screen again, "Temari, just Temari. No surname or anything," She murmured quietly to herself. She shook her head again. It happened again, she didn't remember going up to the platform. Karin and Kaoru both looked ragged and beat up, as if they already fought. But she didn't remember seeing anybody fight, much less her teammates. She swore quietly and took calming breaths. She kept telling herself all that she needed was to go home, get a proper meal and a good night's sleep, though she couldn't shake away the feeling that this memory loss thing wasn't anything new. She sighed and jumped over the railing, not even bothering to use the stairs.

She ran her fingers through her waist length hair and yawned, finally looking at Temari. As soon as the proctor said, "begin" she took out her over-large fan and held it in front of her.

"As soon as you see three moons, you'll be beaten," Temari said calmly. Layuki eyed the fan wearily, debating what to do. Experimentally, she took a kunai and threw it effortlessly at the older girl. Before Layuki could even blink, there was a large gust of wind, which blew her hair around her face, and the kunai shot back at her, cutting her cheek slightly. She frowned and touched the scratch. Then she scowled; this match would be a touch problematic.

Layuki scratched the back of her head, pondering for a moment. She considered just forfeiting the match; she honestly didn't need anymore brushes with death this week. She sighed again. Giving up was not an option; it was against her nature to walk away from something she _might_ have a chance with. However if her opponent was someone she knew she couldn't win against, someone like Gaara for instance, she would have no problem throwing in the towel without a second shot.

She had never seen Temari in action before, but Layuki knew that she wouldn't have chosen her for an opponent. She frowned, she was getting lazy; Shikamaru was rubbing off on her. She sighed one last time in defeat and considered quitting once again. Temari had seen her fight, and Layuki had no idea what she could do. Then it hit her.

Temari _never_ saw what she could do. The only time she had seen Layuki was when she was either just standing there, or when she was about to be killed. The corners of Layuki's mouths twitched. Temari thought she was weak. That was probably her only advantage, but it was enough to possibly guarantee her a victory. The last thing a shinobi should ever do is to underestimate an opponent.

Layuki knew she had to move fast, but there was no problem with that. Speed was her specialty.

So fast that her hands were almost a blur, she did several hand signs. And with one movement of her feet, she disappeared. She reappeared a couple feet behind Temari, who was caught off guard. Layuki bent down and put her hands flat on the ground. Within seconds, bolts of lightning came out of the ground and she let out a feline-like grin when the bolts wrapped around the blonde girl.

There was a loud bang and smoke covered the arena, making it impossible to see. Layuki swore, she didn't like not knowing where her opponents were. Usually her first reaction would be to activate her Hirukagan, but for some reason, this option didn't even occur to her now. As soon as the smoke cleared, she was surprised, to say the least, to see Temari leaning calmly against the wall, without a scratch on her. Layuki looked to the spot the girl had been standing before and saw only a kunai. It took her a moment to figure out that Temari had used Kawarimi no Jutsu, the switching technique, with the kunai that had scratched her earlier.

Suddenly, the tables were turned and now it was Temari who was behind Layuki. With one swish of her fan, Temari made a large wind, which sent the smaller girl flying uncontrollably into the wall. Slowly Layuki slid down, until she was in a heap on the ground.

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**A/N:** Don't you love the feeling of relief you get when a chapter is over? I do, unfortunately it only lasts a little while until I start stressing on how to start the next chapter. It'll be here soon. Thanks for reading!  
**fanny-kun**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Okay, so I lied. This is another short chapter. I apologise deeply. Anyways...I've noticed my lack of reviews T-T...enjoy chapter 12!

**Disclaimer:** I live in Canada, and have no clue how to speak/read/write Japanese. Obviously, I do not own Naruto.

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Clutching a kunai tightly in her hand, Layuki listened for footsteps to come and check on her. Of course, she wasn't hurt, but she lay seemingly limp on the ground waiting for Temari to attack the same way a cat waits to pounce on the mouse.

She had no plan on how to win, but one started to form slowly in her head when she looked at her hand. There were four little slits were covered in dry blood in her palm where her fingernails dug in earlier. Moving carefully so no one would notice, she brought the other hand, which was holding the kunai, over and gently opened the wound once more. And once more, her blood was flowing freely.

As if on cue, Layuki heard the footsteps she needed. With lightning speed, she was on her feet. She whipped her bloody hand in Temari's general direction at the height where she thought her eyes would be. She hit. Temari almost dropped her fan to rub her eyes. Taking her chance, Layuki clutched her kunai and attempted to cut the fan. Her strategy would have worked perfectly, if Temari hadn't seen what was going on.

Even faster than Layuki was, the blonde picked up her fan and with a swish of her arm the shorter girl once again flew into the wall. Only this time, she hit it much harder.

Layuki opened her eyes and she saw little stars flying around. She felt blood begin to mix in with her hair and she knew she had probably cracked her skull. She forced determination to over power the pain. As she struggled to stay conscious she heard voices above her.

"Rei-sensei, why isn't she using her Hirukagan? This would be over by now if she was…"The voice trailed off as Layuki recognized Karin's worried tone. There was a long pause and the answer didn't come from her own sensei.

Layuki didn't even bother to listen to Kakashi explain about her kekkei genkai, she was too busy patronizing herself for not thinking to use it. She activated it only to have it go away after a second. She froze as she realized what was happening.

The Hirukagan had three stages. The first stage is being able to see people's thoughts. The second stage is to be able to see people's memories. The final stage is to be able to see into people's imaginations.

Normally, Layuki would be ecstatic that the final stage was finally coming along. But now was horrible timing. Each stage needed two weeks to fully develop. In that span, the Hirukagan cannot be used at all. Also during that time, the user's memory will come and go. Another down side is that more chakra will be able to activate the Hirukagan, as all stages will be activated at once, there would be no possible way to use only one stage at a time. One plus to this was that Layuki finally figured out why she kept blanking out.

Looking at the sand-ninja once more, Layuki noticed that two purple circles were now showing. Then, Temari's earlier words came to mind. _As soon as you see three moons, you'll be beaten_. Layuki smirked as she finally found a winning strategy.

Focusing chakra to her feet, she charged at Temari. Temari raised her fan, but as soon as she swung it, Layuki jumped high into the air. Taking aim, she landed gracefully on Temari's shoulders, the force of it knocked her to the ground. Layuki jumped off and grabbed the fan.

She lifted it up, only to have it drop again. She made a face and lifted the surprisingly enormous weight with a slight heave. Opening the fan so all three moons were showing, she swung it as hard as she could. After the wind hit Temari, she took out three shruikan and threw them so the pinned Temari's clothes to the wall. To finish it off, she ran up to Temari and lightly hit her in the temple, knocking her out immediately.

Layuki sighed in relief. Before her breath was finished, she fell to her knees with a whimper of pain escaping through her mouth. The determination that had been holding her pain back evaporated and she was now aware of the crack in her skull.

"Fuyaku Layuki, if you do not stand -cough- I will have no choice but to call this a draw." The proctor said emotionlessly. Layuki bit her tongue and stood up for as long as it took for the proctor to announce the winner of the match. The she started to fall fast to the ground. When she hit the ground, it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Sure it wasn't as if she was falling on a mattress, but it definitely was too soft to be the cement ground. It felt like Layuki was on the beach, and she had fallen into the soft sand…

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next thing she knew she was standing in front of a large board and reading her name. She scowled and mentally kicked herself. These memory losses would take some getting used to over the next few weeks. She looked at her name again and her brain finally processed that this was the fighting pairings for the final exams. She swore as she found out she was facing Nara Shikamaru.

She frowned and weighed the pros and cons. Shikamaru didn't fight painfully, so she would pretty much get away scotch-free, unlike today. Then again, he was completely unpredictable even when Layuki's Hirukagan was activated; there was just too much going through his mind at once for her to process quickly enough. But she was getting her third stage of the Hirukagan soon, would that help her? Probably not since it would take getting used to, and she didn't have anybody from her can that could help her. Before, she had her sister to help when she was getting the Hirukagan and when she was getting the second stage.

She suddenly remembered what happened when she fought her match and her hand automatically moved towards her head. The bandages covered her forehead and they felt slightly damp with her flowing blood. She scowled as she realised that she missed practically all the matches, Layuki looked around at the final contestants.

Gaara was the first person to catch her eye. Beside him was his brother, Kankorou. Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru were there as well, so was the bandaged ninja named Dosu. On the board, she saw Sasuke's name as well. So nine. There were nine contestants. Layuki titled her head as she tried to figure out how that would work out.

She didn't bother listen to the proctor speak of the next exam, instead, she let her mind wander around the possibilities of what her new Hirukagan would be.

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**A/N:** Sorry again about the short and pretty much meaningless chapter...:D Thanks for reading!  
**fanny-kun**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** BAM! Who updated? Yeah, I did :P. I actually kind of like this chapter, I think it's a nice change of tone from the exams. Well not really..but yeah..Enjoy!!  
Oh and thanks so very much to all my reviewers (:  
Now you may enjoy..well after the disclaimer at least. :D

**Disclaimer: **Even with all the awesomeness I have..it's not enough to own Naruto ):

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"This is absolutely amazing. I honestly can't believe how great this is working," Layuki had her eyes opened wide and was staring directly at a very bored Kaoru. "You're so…original. You have like, no creativity whatsoever." 

"Will you stop it already?" Kaoru snapped, "I really don't appreciate you going through my head like that. If you have to waste your chakra like that, go bug Karin."

"Can't. She ran off somewhere earlier, trust me; I wouldn't be going through you mind if someone else were here. You're too bland. Anyways you're supposed to help me train, and you're helping by just sitting there. Think of something creative…no not that! That's not nice!" she scowled as Kaoru made a mental image of him slitting her throat. "Believe me, you would be like this too if you had something this great. I mean I can, like, practically she through your eyes now, you know, me sitting here and staring at you. Does my hair really look like that? Anyways, this is so awesome…hey! What the hell was that for?" Her Hirukagan deactivated as soon as she lost concentration when a kunai was thrown at her.

"Please, I'm begging you, _please_ stop. Go kick a tree or something, just get out of my head!" Kaoru said angrily as he walked up to retrieve his kunai.

"What fun is there in kicking a tree? And if I have to kick a tree why are you here?"

"Don't ask me," he said raising his hands as if he was surrendering "Rei-sensei told me to come to make sure you don't overdo it like you did yesterday."

Layuki scowled. Yesterday was the end of the two-week time limit for her Hirukagan to develop its third stage. She had been trying every single day to see if it would somehow miraculously be finished early. But when she discovered it yesterday, she had been so awed by it that she didn't deactivate it until her chakra was at its limit and she could barely walk. She hadn't realised she had been toying it with it for that long, it must have been hours.

She was still amazed by the clarity of the images she saw. Before, she could only hear people's minds and see what the pictures were _like_, but never before had she been able to actually see them. Also now she can basically see through other people's eyes, it was a high advantage, like where they were, whom they were with, and so on.

Suddenly, another kunai came flying at her and she had to duck to avoid it. "What the hell? Are you trying to kill me or something?" She hissed at her teammate.

"If you don't want to kick trees then I'll spar with you, I have to keep up my skills too you know."

"Psh, what skills?" Right after Layuki said that another kunai was thrown at her, this one actually made a scratch on her cheek. "Fine, be that way." Layuki grabbed her long hair and put it into a quick braid. When she fought with Temari she had accidentally left her hair down. Trying to brush it that night was hell. She got into fighting stance and she spent the next hour or so sparring with Kaoru.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"There she is! I see her!" Layuki half ran half limped toward her other redheaded teammate. It was afternoon now, and she was really tired after her training. Reaching Karin halfway, she saw that she was talking to someone else. Kiba scrutinized her as she came near.

"Is it just me, or are you half-dead every time I see you?" He said observing her beat up appearance. To top it all of, she had a deep cut above her left eye, which was continuously bleeding so she had to wipe her eye every once in a while so blood wouldn't get into it.

Kaoru had come up beside her and he was in no better shape. Actually, he was in worse shape with several burn marks on his arms and his shirt was slightly scorched from Layuki's lightning attacks.

Layuki stuck her tongue out a Kiba. "I am _not_ half dead. I'm very much alive thank you very much." Turning to Karin she said, "The third stage is so bloody amazing! I beat Kaoru twenty times out of twenty. He almost got me the last time though, because I couldn't keep it up."

She grinned up at her teammate, but her smile soon turned into a frown. Karin had an annoyed look on her face. Layuki looked from her to Kiba, and back to Karin again. Realisation donned upon her face. She said a quiet 'ohh' grabbed Kaoru's arm and dragged him away. As she left, she felt a pair of eyes dig holes into her back, she had a feeling they didn't belong to Karin.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It wasn't quite evening yet, but it certainly wasn't afternoon. Layuki wandered around the streets of Konohagakure during the twilight hour, watching the storekeepers bring their things in and shut down for the night.

She usually stayed out until late; sleep never usually came to her until very early the next morning anyways. She hardly ever got sleepy for some reason; being in her bed for four hours a night was far more than enough for her.

Before long, all the lights in the village were out, and the only sounds that could be heard were those of Layuki's own footsteps and the chirping of crickets and the occasional owl hoot. It was like this every night. Though, every once in a while there would be voices from ninja who returned from missions at this very late hour.

This night was different though. There were no crickets, and no owls. Even Layuki's footsteps seemed further off and quieter than usual. She looked up at the full moon. She was never superstitious, but during the full moons she always half expected to see a half man half wolf thing coming out of the forest. She laughed at herself; she was just being stupid.

She twirled around the empty streets with her arms spread out as if she were flying. It was no longer twilight, but nighttime, her favourite hour, and also the most beautiful. Every single star shone brightly, as if it were just hanging above the village, instead of being millions of miles away. She smiled gleefully and danced down the deserted street, enjoying the feel of the rays of moonlight shining down upon her. The moon was to her what the sun was to others, it granted her warmth and freedom. She never new why, but she figured that it was because she wasn't afraid to be herself during the night, that there was nobody that she needed to please. As she twirled and leapt around, her eyes were closed. When she opened them, she found herself staring up at somebody.

At first she foolishly thought the figure was some kind of God. He sat so elegantly and still that he was like a living statue. During the minutes it took Layuki to figure out who she was looking at, she was embarrassed. Surely he would have seen her dancing around like a child, someone so king-like looking down upon a silly little girl. She tried looking at the silhouette from a different angle. Eventually, she found a spot where the moonlight caught his face. She let out a loud gasp.

Gaara wasn't looking at her; he was looking toward the other end of the rooftop he was sitting upon. She followed his gaze to see a pile of sand covering what looked like the dead body of Dosu, the sound ninja from the chuunin exams.

Layuki's hand moved over her mouth, trying to make sure she didn't make any more noise, childishly hoping that the redheaded boy wouldn't notice her, even though she had given far more than enough hints that she was there. Remembering her other encounters with him, her legs twitched to run. But her head, her mind was confused. How could someone so beautiful be so murderous? The angle she saw him at, he was directly in the centre of the moon. The large orb shined upon him, defining his already pale skin and made him seem like he was sparkling.

Without any warning, his breathtaking aquamarine eyes flicked from the dead sound ninja to her shock filled face. His gaze held her in her spot and eliminated any impulse to run. She _wanted_ to keep looking at him. She _wanted_ his face to be the last one she ever looked upon. But as cowardly as she was, she didn't want to die.

Knowing that what she was about to do was extremely stupid, she followed her instinct and she jumped lightly the rooftop he was sitting on. Slowly still, she moved forward, begging Kami that he would not move. He didn't, he just continued to stare at her with his beautiful eyes. When Layuki eventually reached him, her heart was pounding loudly. Gaara still didn't move, but she noticed sand coming slowly out of his gourd to attack her at a moments notice.

So slowly that she didn't even know what she was doing, she moved her right hand and touched the kanji on the left side of his forehead. She was startled to realise that it was not a tattoo, but a scar. She traced over it with her finger, all the while whispering what it meant.

"Love."

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**A/N:** Ah, I love fluff. Even though it was kinda one-sided it's still there..I think..  
Anyways, please review! Thanks for reading! Ta ta for now.  
**fanny-kun**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **I'm running out of ideas T-T sad but true. Ah well, I hope this chapter does for now. Enjoy (:  
Oh and thanks a million to my reviewers :D

**Disclaimer: **I own my OCs. That is all.

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It was as if someone had splashed cold water on her face. Layuki suddenly realised what she was doing and she quickly pulled her hand back as if it had been burned. She looked down at her feet and saw sand beginning to swirl around. Once more she looked at his face, and she slowly began to back away. Her eyes were wide with shock and she desperately tried to figure out what had over come her to do that, to _touch_ him.

Gaara looked at her for a moment more and slowly he lifted his hand. Layuki looked down and saw the sand begin to rise above her knees. She didn't even think, she tried to turn around and run away, but the sand quickly moved to her waist, where it began to slow down, holding her still. A sudden mood change swept over her, and her mind was flooded with anger.

"Do you like, have a killing complex or something? Why the bloody hell do you keep trying to put me on my deathbed? Tell me. I won't let you kill me until I get some answers!" Layuki snapped at him. Going over her response in her head, it made absolutely no sense even to her, but she didn't care. It actually looked like he was going to answer her. The sand had stopped when it reached just above her waist, and she could move and waver her arms around in frustration.

"I am a monster. I killed my mother when I was born. Killing other people is the only way to prove my existence, call it a bloodlust if you will. You wouldn't understand, you probably have never faced tragedy." His voice was monotone, but it was dripping with desire, desire for her blood; the bloodlust he had mentioned was kicking in. He had paused before answering, not knowing why he was delaying the girl's death. Layuki tried to look see his eyes again, one last time; but, his head was drooped and his blood-red hair shagged over his aquamarine orbs. As she was racking her brains for what to say, she laughed at him, a dry humourless laugh.

"You think I haven't faced tragedy? That's a good one. Ask anyone in the village; I probably have one of the hardest pasts that anyone will be able to think of. My mom died giving birth to me too…whoop-dee-doo! That's no reason to go around ending people's lives so you can fulfill your own. I mean, look at me: do I look like some deranged psychotic killer to you? No, exactly.

"And I'm not a retard. I know you're a jinchuuriki, see these eyes," She paused as she pulled her bottom eyelids down with her forefingers, "my eyes are used for more than just seeing people on the outside. Well, I guess they're only good for seeing _you_ on the outside, but that's not the point. I know what's inside you; it's almost the exact same thing that's inside Naruto-kun. But you don't see him going around and slaughtering every person that he sees. Because he's found a reason for life, it's about time you find one too!" She paused to take a deep breath.

She gasped as she felt the sand around her tighten, she pointed and angry finger at him. "No! I am _not_ finished ranting yet, and you can't kill me until I am. Hell, you can't even kill me then. Dammit, would you _please_ stop being a jerk and make this sand of yours loosen up? Anyways, you didn't answer the second part of my question. Why do you want to kill me? I've never done anything to you at all! Or are you jealous, jealous because I have people who care for me? Because I have people who care for me enough to end your life if you so much as damage mine? Ouch, ouch, ouch! Fine, sorry! Loosen up you bastard…that's it. I'm _really_ mad now."

Layuki focused a large amount of chakra to the parts of her body that were below her waist. Twisting and turning, she let it out and somehow escaped the sand. Focusing chakra to her feet, she disappeared and reappeared behind him, so fast that neither he nor his sand had time to react.

"I've told you this once and I'll tell you again. I couldn't care less who you kill, but lay so much as a finger on my friends, then I'll kill you. That goes for anyone that lives in this village as well. The people in Konoha are my life. Take any one of them away from me, and you'll wish that you never met me. That is no empty threat. Until next time, Sabaku no Gaara." Layuki said this so fast that by the time his sand arrived to kill her, she was gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki was panting by the time she reached her apartment. She could still hear her heart pounding from the encounter she had just minutes ago. She went over in her head what she had said to her, hoping her little spasm of speech was convincing enough. Her building loomed over her and looked oddly uninviting.

A thought went through her mind. If she had had the courage, would she have been able to kill him? It was obvious to her that she'd caught him off guard; hell, she had even caught herself off guard. The answer was no. Even though she wanted to more than anything, she would not have been able to take away his life. When she'd threatened him earlier, it was an empty threat, despite what she'd said to him, it was a very empty threat indeed.

She looked at her apartment building once again and turned around. There would be no point in entering; she wouldn't be able to sleep anyways. It was late, and according to the position the stars were in it was about two hours past midnight, so nobody she knew would be awake. She wanted to go somewhere where she could be alone, where nobody would be able to find her. She settled on a place she hadn't been in years. Her clan compound.

Layuki stopped in front of a tall menacing gate. The households were on the very edge of Konohagakure, far away from where she lived currently. She breathed heavily from the run. Even though she knew nobody came here, she looked around to make sure there wasn't anybody watching.

The Fuyaku clan had been very social, but highly secretive at the same time. Nobody, with exceptions for Hogake's, Sannin's, elite jounin's, and ANBU members, outside the clan had been inside the compound. Another exception was when members inside sneaked them in.

Layuki smiled as she remembered, years previously, when her sister would bring Uchiha Itachi inside on days where most people were either in the village or sleeping in. Not many people had seen what was in the households. Even Layuki hasn't been inside for more than a year.

The thing that kept intruders out was the gate. A jutsu was placed on it so only members of the clan could go through. On the gate were two handles where chakra would need to be focused on. If the gate did not recognise the Fuyaku chakra, then the person would have been severely burned.

Layuki took a deep breath and begged Kami that her clan hadn't had her chakra signal removed from the gate. She grabbed onto the handles, and she was half surprised when it opened. The first thing she noticed when she stepped in was how clean it was, there were no skeletons lying around from the previous year. Her sister must have let the gate open so the ANBU would have been able to clean up after her. After that they must have closed the gate out of respect. Layuki smirked; this just showed that Satsuki had cared about the clan at least a little bit.

Out of memory, Layuki made her way to the house where her father and sister had lived. As she walked, she took in the sight of the distant hills, which the full moon shined down upon. She stopped when she reached her destination. Hesitantly, she opened the door.

It was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything at all. She felt on the wall for the light switch, she frowned when she couldn't find one. It was odd, Layuki was sure that there had always been light bulbs in the ceiling. Then she remembered that her clan made their own electricity. Forming her hands in hand signs, she pointed at the approximate place for the light bulb and shot some lightning right at it. For a moment, it was so bright she had to shield her eyes. After a couple seconds the room was nicely lit and Layuki looked around her.

The entry room was some sort of living room. There was a small couch, which was dusty from a year of inoccupation. What surprised her the most was the fact that there was writing above the wall. It was addressed to her, and it was written in blood.

Layuki could barely make it out because it was peeling so much. After a minute she realised what it said.

_Layuki, look in our place. _

Unconsciously, she nodded and ran out of the house, muttering under her breath and watching the light flicker out as she left. She stopped running when she reached a small clearing; it was a small park, with a small pond in the middle. Layuki ran to the pond. There were many koi floating on their stomachs, and several were just skeletons. Only one or two were still alive, presumably surviving on the bodies of their dead kin. It was off to Layuki that at a time like this she was thinking of animals and cannibalism. She laughed at herself and shook her head, walking over to the edge of the water.

She took off her shoes and walked into the water, wincing at its coolness. When she reached a patch of reeds, she stopped and plunged her hands into the water, feeling for the familiar box covered in plastic.

After digging her hands into the mud, she got up into a standing position, package in her hands. Ignoring the temptation to open it right there, she trudged back to land and shook the water from her slender legs. She sat down beside her shoes and took the box out of the bag. Slowly, she opened the lid and took out the only unfamiliar thing she saw…

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**A/N: **Hm, I have problems getting Gaara's personality right and that's beginning to piss me off...maybe it'll be easier to portray him in shippuuden..?  
Ah well. Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated :D  
**fanny-kun**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Thanks to my reviewers, enjoy Chapter Fifteen!!

**Disclaimer: **-insert witty disclaimer saying Naruto belongs to Kishimoto here-

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The next thing she knew, it was morning. At first, Layuki thought that her memory lapses had returned, but then she remembered where she was. The sun shone brightly in the sky, meaning it was almost afternoon. She groaned and sat up, somewhat surprised that she had been lying on the ground.

The only reasonable explanation she could currently think of was that she had fallen asleep. From why she remembered she arrived inside her clan compound at around three in the morning, and now it was presumably past twelve. If she really had been asleep, then it was the longest sleep she ever remembered. Then, a memory from last night came back into her head. Layuki glanced at the box, which was lying open next to her shoes, then her gaze shifted to the crumpled piece of paper she held in her hand. After hesitating a moment, for some unknown reason, she read it again.

_Layuki-chan, _

_If I got my timing right, which I probably have, being me and all, then you're reading this during the chuunin exams. Though whether you're taking them or not, I can't be too sure, but preferably you are. Also, I'm guessing that that Anzoka boy told you to come here, Arimayu or something like that…I can't tell, they all look the same. And if it wasn't him who made you come here, I'm not all the surprised. _

_ That's why I wrote a message to you on the wall of our home, and in otou-san's blood too (I thought that would add to the effect, but it makes no difference, blood is blood no matter who it's from). The Anzoka clan can't be trusted, but it took me a hell of a long time to track someone down who would know who you are; and even longer to convince him to do this. You might remember when I was very late returning from that one mission about a year after Itachi-kun killed his clan, well now you know why. _

_Anyways, the point of this letter is to tell you I'm sorry. I know you probably don't care about what I did, but you're probably still wondering about the 'why' part. It was because I won't feel complete until I do the same thing he did. You know who I mean. _

_Damn, writing this letter is hard; I'm not sure whether to use past or present tense. I'm writing this before I kill everyone, in case you're wondering. The reason why I want you to be reading this during the exams is to warn you. If I get what I want, then I'll be a member of the Akatsuki, like Itachi-kun. I've done my research, and there's an ex-member named Orochimaru. He's after a new body, and if I'm right then he'll go after that Uchiha kid, the one about your age. Just be careful, I don't want you getting involved. _

_There's something else too, something about that boy, Uzumaki Naruto. As you've probably realised, he's a jinchuuriki (don't look into his head! It'll hurt like hell if you do, and if you already have…haha). The Akatsuki is looking for people like him, demon hosts. About two of the members will be by Konohagakure soon to…collect him. When they come, hopefully I'll be there too. But if I'm not, then stay away, these people aren't merciful _at all_. So little sister, hopefully I shall be seeing you soon. This is goodbye until we meet._

_Satsuki-onee-chan._

_PS. I left a present for you in the box; you might remember it from when I used it. I need to get a new one anyways, but I'm not going to tell you how it works. That's something you have to figure out on your own. Try not to scream when you put it on, it'll attract too much attention._

Last night Layuki didn't even bother looking for the present her sister mentioned, but now she was very curious. She turned her head to look at the box beside her and she stared at it for a couple seconds, as if she could will it to move on its own. Sighing, she reached over and dragged it towards her. She made a face at the weight of the box, it hadn't felt this heavy last night.

Taking the lid off again she looked through the box's contents. Most of the things in it belonged to her mother; Layuki and Satsuki had kept them in the box to prevent their father from burning them. There were several pieces of jewellery, and a photograph of the whole family, except Layuki of course, and there was also a diary. Layuki had read the diary so many times that she had it practically memorized. The first time she read it she burst into tears because she still felt guilty about her mother's death. But years went on and she grew stronger until eventually she wasn't sad about the diary anymore, she was disgusted with it.

There was another thing in the box; something Layuki remembered her sister to wear. It was a glove like thing made out of metal. Layuki frowned; this must be her present. She racked her memory for what it did, but nothing came to her. She never saw her sister use it, but she knew it was some kind of weapon.

Curious, she took it out, making another face at the weight of it. She took her right hand and put it in, shoving her fingers into the tubes of the metal glove. At first nothing happened, then slowly it began to glow. Layuki tilted her head and observed it. Then it made a sudden movement and forgetting about her sister's warning, she screamed; a loud, high-pitched scream.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Ugh, please tell me that wasn't her," Shikamaru slowly lifted his head and shifted his gaze from his barbequed pork, and looked out the window towards the sky, wondering where the scream came from. "She's usually up at six in the morning but not today. Nope, today she has to disappear until now and the only sign that she's alive is a scream. Too troublesome, far too troublesome."

All of a sudden two almost identical faces appeared in the window and blocked his view. "I'd like to tell you that, but I think it was." Kaoru said. He sounded somewhat concerned, but he was leaning against the sill almost too casually. His sister was opposite, she looked perfectly calm but she kept fidgeting with her hands. Kaoru shifted his blue eyes to focus on Shikamaru's bored face.

"Shouldn't you be training? You're facing Layuki-chan and I have to say she's pretty good," At this his hand automatically rubbed his cheek where there was a large bruise from training the day before.

"I doubt she can beat him, he might be lazy but he's a genius." Kaoru frowned slightly when Ino said this and shrugged. Looking like he didn't care. Karin finally spoke.

"Anyways, we didn't come here to argue about the final exams. We were wondering if you knew where Layuki was, she doesn't usually scream like that you know." Karin's eyes were scanning the streets, as if Layuki might suddenly appear.

Shikamaru shrugged. "She might have picked another fight with Neji, you know how stupid she can be."

Karin glared at him. She didn't understand why these two were friends; all they did was speak badly about the other. "No. That was a scream of fear, not of pain. I highly doubt she'd be afraid of Neji-san. Maybe Lee a little, but not – there it is again." Before she could finish her sentence another shriek cut though the air. This time it caused people wandering the streets to look up to the sky, as if they were expecting it to have come from some bird.

Shikamaru sighed and looked away. "Don't worry about her, she's fine, I know she is."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Kankorou frowned as he heard the second scream. He turned to his sister, "You don't think he would kill in bright daylight do you?"

"No, he wouldn't." The voice that answered didn't belong to Temari. Kankorou snapped his head towards the door, where Gaara had suddenly appeared in a whirlwind of sand. "And he'll kill you next time he finds you talking about him behind his back." Gaara was snarling, and his usually monotone voice was flooded with fury. He moved to the wall and relieved his shoulders of the gourd. Then he sat down and began to meditate.

"G-Gaara!" He almost twitched when Temari interrupted him. He opened his eyes and glared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Uhm, where were you last night?"

His sea green eyes went blank for a moment before he answered. "I went out." He paused for a moment, "I ran into that girl from the exams, the one that beat you, Temari. She's irritating, I'll have to get rid of her." His voice was stoic once again, emotionless.

"What?! You mean she's alive? Still? How many is that now, four? Wow, she's our new record holder, I think I'd like to meet her." Kankorou mused. Temari glared at him. Then turned to Gaara, her glare evaporating.

"She got away again? Why didn't you kill her?" Her voice cracked when her youngest brother looked at her again, his dark-rimmed eyes were as emotionless as the voice he answered her in.

"I didn't want to, not yet. This one deserves something more; this one needs to be toyed with."

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**A/N: **I tried making Gaara's personality a bit different, but I think he's talking too much.  
Anyways, thanks for reading! Review please:D  
**fanny-kun**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Thanks a ton to my reviewers. I've been noticing a lack of reviews (well not really but xP).  
Anyways, it was my birthday yesterday:D yes! Happy birthday to me!! So I guess this would be my loot bag present to you all (do people still even do loot bags?)  
Enjoy chapter Sixteen!"  
btw, **bold** in this chapter equals **flashback**. Okay? Okay (:

**Disclaimer: **-sigh- I can only wish T-T

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Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome woman, she's late." He muttered under his breath. They had been waiting for the absent final examinees for a while now, and then the proctor began to talk. After his announcement of the murder of the sound ninja, he began a little speech about the fights. It wasn't till the remaining genin reached their balcony did Layuki show up. 

"Hey, Shikamaru, what's up?" He turned his head tiredly to look at her; he hadn't seen her for at least a week. His eyes automatically drifted to her right hand, which looked like it was enveloped in a silver glove-like thing. When Layuki saw his gaze, she held up her hand and grinned, flexing her fingers. "Neat, eh? Took me a hell of a long time to figure out how to use it, but it's damn useful. You'll see what I mean during our fight."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**"Damn onee-chan, is she _trying_ to kill me?" Layuki sat on the ground panting. She had just managed to take the metal thing off surprisingly not a lot of effort, all she did was stop the chakra flow in her arm and it had stopped making its way around her. She looked at her arm and saw that it was a bright red, presumably from how tight it squeezed. **

**When Layuki finally got a hold of herself, she stared at the glove for a few seconds and decided to risk putting it on again. This time, before slipping in on her hand, she bit her tongue so she wouldn't scream again. She watched as it glowed, and then it raced its way up her arm, as if it were eating the limb. It began to slow down at her shoulder, and eventually stopped when it touched her neck. **

**She raised her arm and tried to bend her elbow or flex her fingers. Nothing happened, her arm was as straight as a pole, and it quite looked like one too. Testing, Layuki focused chakra to her bendable jointed and watched as it began to glow again. Suddenly the metal felt like fabric and she could move easily in it. **

**Curious, Layuki stood up, no longer feeling the massive weight of the object, and punched the nearest tree with all her might. At first, nothing happened, then the tree began to crack, and eventually the tree fell over, its trunk looked as if it had been snapped in half. Gaping, Layuki looked at her hand, and she didn't even feel the smallest amount of pain. **

**A wide grin spread across her face as she realised what she could do with this. **

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki grinned as she remembered the pure power she had felt when she had been training. Once though, she had accidentally forgotten to use chakra control, and the metal had gone wild, almost pulverizing her arm. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

Suddenly, she felt as if someone had poured iced water down her back. Slowly, she turned around and locked eyes with Gaara. Instinctively she moved closer to Shikamaru, as if he could protect her from the redhead's glare. Her mind automatically remembered that night two weeks ago on the rooftop, the last time he had tried to kill her. She could feel her heart racing when she looked at him; it surprised her. He is the only person she had ever met that made her feel like this. He made her feel weak and vulnerable, with just a simple stare.

Even though she felt unable to look away from him, she forced herself to turn and watch the match. That she saw shocked her.

"No fucking way," Layuki stared open mouthed at the two fighters in the arena. Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuuga Neji. To everyone's surprise, and mostly hers, Naruto was winning. "Damn kid, improving so much in a month. I'm mad now, I've never even beat Neji."

"That's because you don't think when you fight. You let your anger cloud you." Shikamaru said lazily, not even turning to her. "You're not weak. You might be able to control your chakra perfectly, but you have problems controlling your emotions. See…that's exactly what I mean." He was looking at her gloved hand, which was squeezing the railing so hard it was badly dented. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, you'll find it's easier to fight when you have a clear mind."

"How am I supposed to do that? Stare at clouds for a day?" She glared up and him, then she took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry, you're right." Then she looked around at the people on the balcony: her, Shikamaru, Shino, Kankorou, and Gaara. "I wonder where Sasuke-san is."

Once upon a time she had swooned over the emotionless Uchiha as every other girl had. But unlike everyone else, she eventually got bored with him. When she spoke of him, she used the respective term 'san' only because she honoured him as a shinobi. But inside, she almost hated him. Almost. A part of her blamed him because of his brother, because her sister had left her alone because of Uchiha Itachi. But she knew that wasn't fair, nobody got to choose their family.

"No idea. Asuma-sensei said Kakashi-sensei hasn't been around lately either. Knowing him, Sasuke will probably turn up from no where the second the examiners are about to disqualify him." Shikamaru sighed again. "These exams, their just too troublesome."

"Huh." Layuki grunted, barely listening to her friend. "Who's he fighting again?" She waited for a moment, and then looked at Shikamaru when he didn't answer. He was staring wide-eyed at her hands, which were rested against the railing. She was about to ask what he was looking at, but she looked down at her hands and almost cried out. Quickly, she jumped a step backwards, shaking the sand off of her.

"What are you playing at?" She turned to Gaara angrily. His emotionless expression didn't falter, even under her intense glare.

"I was giving you an answer. I will be the one that defeats the Uchiha." His sand was swirling around now, beginning to make its way back into the gourd.

"Right, whatever. Just…stay away from me." She began to walk back to her spot beside Shikamaru, when a hand grabbed her hitai-ate, which was around her neck. The force of the pull made her lose her breath. She closed her eyes and tried breathing normally. When she opened them again, she almost screamed. She was staring at the painted face of Gaara's older brother.

"Stupid kid, do you have a death wish? Talking to Gaara like that is going to get you killed." Kankorou was grinning stupidly, hid grasp still tight around her ninja headband. He was so much taller than Layuki that she had to stand on the very tips of her toes to prevent being dangled in the air.

Glaring at him, she brought her knee up and kneed him in the groin. His face scrunched together in pain and he almost crumpled to the floor. His hands let go of her hitai-ate. Layuki reached around to the back of her neck and untied the cloth, frowning. "Bastard, you got fingerprints on my forehead protector." She breathed on the metal parts and wiped the fog off with her shirt. She tied it back around her neck and walked back to the railing.

"You little bitch," Kankorou growled as he stood up. "You seriously are going to get yourself killed with and attitude like yours." Layuki's temper finally got the better of her and she reached into her weapons pouch for a kunai, but a hand stopped her and held her still.

"Calm down Layuki. Just calm down." Shikamaru sounded surprisingly bored as if there was nothing going on behind him. Layuki took a couple deep breaths and relaxed her arm. But she wasn't giving up, if Shikamaru wouldn't let her fight with her fists, then she would have to fight with words.

She activated her Hirukagan and looked into Kankorou's head, trying to find anything she could use against him. She finally stopped at this one thought that amused her greatly. She began to laugh.

Once again Kankorou's grip was around her hitai-ate, but this time he held her as far away as he could so she couldn't kick him again. "Baka, what are you laughing at."

Layuki grinned widely. "Other than at your make-up, I'm laughing at how stupid you are. Not just you but your siblings too." Kankorou shook her and glared into her eyes. His own eyes opened wide and he let go of her. He didn't know about the Hirukagan and he just saw his reflection in her eyes. They were pure black and pupil-less when just a moment ago they were grey. Layuki laughed again.

"And you call me a baka, but you're the real idiot. You think your plan is going to work, but the leaf is stronger than you think. I'll prove it to you, I won't tell any of the jounin's about anything, about the sand or the sound. You'll see; you guys won't win. Ouch." Layuki rubbed her cheek where Kankorou just hit her.

"How the hell do you know about that? What are you?" It was obvious he was trying to sound angry, but there was fear in his voice.

Layuki grinned even wider. "What am I? I am a Fuyaku. I am a master of the mind; a Mastermind."

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**A/N: **I love making fun of Kankorou, it just amuses me. Don't get me wrong, I like him and all..I just think he's the easiest to torment (: My apologies to Kankorou fangirls.  
Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!  
**fanny-kun**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **Hello y'all! It's been a while since I updated, and I apologise for that. Gomen. (:  
Anyways, I got a juicy ammount of reviews last chapter (well for me at least) and I'd like to thank everyone who is reading, and everyone that's reviewed. It's really appreciated :D  
Enjoy Chapter Seventeen!

**Disclaimer: **Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto...therefore I do not.

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"Uchiha Sasuke has yet to turn up, we will skip to the next match, Aburame Shino versus Kankorou!" The proctor's voice was like a knife that cut through the frozen atmosphere up in the balcony. Layuki's last words rang in everybody's ears. At some point Temari had turned up beside her siblings, and was staring at Layuki with the same expression of confused fear that her black-clad brother had on. 

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you hear your name? You might as well fight, like I said, you guys don't stand a chance." Layuki's voice was mocking, and it was daring Kankorou to step into the battle area. Slowly, the puppeteer made his way to the balcony and forfeited the match. Layuki smirked. "Coward."

Kankorou glared at her, but she walked up beside Shikamaru and smiled up at him. He sighed and made his way down the stairs. She waiting a moment, and tied her long hair into a braid. She then flexed her gloved fingers one more time and followed her friend; it took all her might not to look at Gaara as she passed him. She walked down to the centre of the arena and waited for the proctor to begin the match.

The man looked both of them over and said, "You know the rules. Let me match begin."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Layuki jumped backwards, aiming to get as far away from Shikamaru as possible; the last thing she needed was to get caught up in his shadow. When she felt she was at a safe distance, she focused chakra into her arm and watched the glove make its way over the limb. She grinned and held out her arm. "Whether you want me to or not Shikamaru, I'm going to win this!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"The nerve of that kid! She makes me want to strangle her, ugh!" Kankorou threw his arms up in exasperation soon after the said girl left. "Who the hell does she think she is? Does she think she can do anything and get away with it? That rotten spoiled brat!"

"Calm down, she's probably on the hit list of quite a few people right now," Temari laid a hand on her brother's shoulder. "But if you kill her, I'm betting a bunch of people will try to do you in. She seems like the type who can make friends"

"Ha! Make friends with that attitude? You're joking Temari. That kid is just conceited, her bark is probably way worse than her bite."

"Yeah, you think so?" Temari felt her anger flare when her brother nodded. "So what are you saying about me then? Did you forget that that little brat kicked my ass? Are you calling me weak?"

Before Kankorou could think up an excuse and escape Temari's wrath, Gaara's voice interrupted. "Kankorou. Temari."

"Y-yes Gaara?" the answer came in unison, both voices shaky and afraid. Gaara didn't even look up as he answered; his eyes were fixed on the two fighting figures.

"Shut up, I'll kill you both."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki waited a minute to see if Shikamaru would do anything or not. When he didn't, she very carefully focused more chakra to her glove, watching as it morphed into the shape of a blade. When the transformation was finished, her arm now resembled a long thin katana, minus the handle. Her body had combined with the metal.

Shikamaru stared at the blade, mildly surprised. "So, this is why you've been so secretive the past few weeks, huh. Impressive, this is going to be troublesome." He sighed and formed the necessary hand signs for his signature jutsu. Then, he retreated to the edge of the arena, where the trees stood, shaded, directly beside the massive walls.

"Yes, it is isn't it? This metal is the ultimate weapon, well, for me at least, and it is now a part of my body; so I can control it as easily as I can move my hand. True, it did scare me at first, but you should have felt the power I felt when I first tried it. Oh Shika-chan, the feeling of this power is like a drug, an ever-strong drug. I can't get enough of it, it feels so good." She used her nickname for her friend in hope that he would get angry and attack; so to let her feel the power again. But she made the worst mistake a shinobi could make; she underestimated her opponent. Shikamaru wasn't like her; he didn't let his emotions cloud his thoughts. She grinned, "Heads up Shika, I'm coming."

So focused chakra to her feet and ran toward her Shikamaru. As she ran, she held her arm in front of her, as if she was wielding a real sword. It didn't even occur to Layuki that she could possibly kill her friend if she was careless enough. No, it didn't occur to her at all, the only thing she was thinking of was the power she would feel when she attacked.

All of a sudden Shikamaru's shadow darted out of his little haven. Layuki swore and jumped upwards, before she could land again his shadow stretched wide and circular. She swore again, she couldn't land without getting trapped in his jutsu. Then she smiled, now she could show off what else she could do with her arm.

Concentrating the chakra already encased in the metal, she made her arm morph into a long extension. With that extension, she grabbed onto a nearby tree and swung herself just out of reach of the shadow. As she landed she made a scratch in the dirt, signifying where his shadow's limit was.

"Damn it, as with that jutsu of his I can't get near." She growled, as she let out a stream of profanities. Sighing, she returned her arm back to its normal shape, making the metal cover only her hand once more. She looked up and glared at Shikamaru. "I hope you're happy, you just made me have to change my plan. It should, like, not be allowed to have shade in an arena."

She had promised herself that she would only use her Hirukagan as a last resort, seeing as she needed most of her chakra for her new weapon. But since that would be of no use with Shikamaru as an opponent, she had no other choice. She would have to defeat him with her Hirukagan, her lightning ninjutsu, and luck. She sighed again, so much for her drug.

Nothing happened for about a minute, Layuki needed all her concentration to even try to figure out Shikamaru's complicated mind. The crowd wasn't helping at all; the people had begun yelling and booing at the lack of action. Half her mind wanted to just throw some kunai at random people, or even merely turning around and yelling at the onlookers would satisfy her. But the other half of her mind, the half that was obviously stronger and more dominant, kept the advice of a very intelligent person. _'Calm down, you'll find it's easier to fight when you have a clear mind'._

Layuki took a deep breath and shoved aside the part of her that wanted to kill the audience. There was only one target for her now: Shikamaru. She wanted to win; she wanted to win even if it killed her.

Shikamaru was in his thinking position, and Layuki stupidly mistook this as him being off-guard. She started to run forward, when the shadow bombarded her again. She scowled and stepped back again. She couldn't focus on anything he was thinking, his thoughts were changing much too quickly for her to keep up.

Quickly, she did hand signs and then laid her hands flat on the ground. She trembled as she felt the electricity pulse through her and she watched as the saw the bolts of lightning come out of the ground behind Shikamaru, making him lose concentration and jump away.

At first all nothing happened, then a smoke bomb hit the ground near her and she fell to the ground coughing as she inhaled the gas. When shruikan after shruikan was thrown at her, she was cursing with all the words she knew. Then, a kunai came at her with an explosive note attached to it. She didn't even have enough time to scream as it exploded when it passed her and blew her out of the little cloud of smoke.

She groaned as she stood up again, the blast had taken the breath out of her lungs, and her left arm stung badly where it was burned. She swore again and decided to use her glove again. Quickly, the metal made its way up her arm once more and it, again, was a katana blade. She focused chakra to her feet and ran toward Shikamaru, thinking that if she was fast enough, his shadow couldn't keep up with her.

Then she realised that she didn't know where her opponent was. She looked around the stadium, but saw and sensed no other person inside it other than herself and the proctor. She stopped, closed her eyes and forced her left hand into the genjutsu release position. When she opened her eyes she jumped away a split second before the shadow could engulf her.

She swore for the millionth time as she caught sight of Shikamaru in the shadows once more. She charged towards him again, but something stopped her. "Damn it all!" she said to no one in particular.

Somehow, she had been caught in Shikamaru's shadow.

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**A/N:** I am like, horrible at writing fight scenes! I had so much trouble, it wasn't even funny. Ah well, I guess that's just not my thing...  
Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!:D  
**fanny-kun**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **I just feel so proud of myself when I update..I just don't know why :D  
Thanks so much to all of my reviewers!  
Enjoy chapter eighteen!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and have no intention of making profit off this fic. So sue, I dare you.

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"What the hell? Are you some bloody magician now or something?" Layuki glared at Shikamaru, "I'm far enough from you, so how the hell did you get your shadow behind me?" 

"I set it all up during my genjutsu." He moved his head around, making Layuki copy his movements. She saw shruikan and kunai sticking out of the ground in an almost straight line. The tiny shadows that they made were enough for his to connect to, then finally, his shadow attached itself to her. Shikamaru smiled, "I've won this."

His smile turned into a frown when Layuki started laughing. "Haha, Shikamaru, you've underestimated me." Suddenly, the makeshift katana blade of her arm was at his neck. "You see, just like you can manipulate your shadow, I can manipulate this metal. I don't need to move to make it change; all I have to do is think, and your shadow might be able to control my body, but it can't control my mind. And if you think about it, even if I didn't have this weapon, you couldn't have beaten me. You're jutsu makes me do exactly what you do, so if you stab be with a kunai, then I stab you and so on. But you can control my speech about as much as you can control my mind; which is not at all. So even if you made me raise my hand, you couldn't have made me forfeit. For a genius, your plan is pretty flawed."

"That's not true." Shikamaru moved his right arm, making hers move, and making the blade move away from his neck. Then, he put his hand to his own neck, and watched as the length of the katana shrunk and the sharp edge was now on Layuki's neck. She scowled and made the metal change back into a glove.

"What do you mean it's not true? You can't argue with my logic!"

"No, I never said your logic wasn't true. As I recall, when you got your…glove thing, you moved your shruikan holster to your left leg and your weapons pouch to the left side of your body. That was so you could use your glove and use your weapons at the same time. It's true but I can't argue with your logic, but I can argue with you. I'm right handed, so if I threw a kunai at you right now, I wouldn't be hurt because you have no weapons on your right side." Shikamaru's smile returned. "Stop being so troublesome Layuki, you've lost this."

"No! I won't lose!" Before she could even think her glove had extended and was shaped like a giant hammer. It zoomed toward her opponent and knocked him away, hard. Layuki gasped as she felt his shadow, and she was speechless for a moment. When she saw his limp figure lying on the ground, she realised how hard she must have hit him. "Shikamaru! No!"

She began to run towards him, but when she was only a meter she stopped in her tracks. She looked down at her feet and scowled. "That's a dirty trick to play on someone. For a second there I thought you were really hurt!"

He stood up and was wincing. "I am hurt, troublesome, I'm going to be feeling that hit for a week." Then he sighed, "There's only one thing to do now." Slowly he raised his hand, making Layuki gape at him.

"Are you stupid? Did you not hear what I said? You can't make me say anything!"

He paid no attention to her. After his arm was extended to its full length he sighed again. "I forfeit this match."

As the proctor ended the match, Layuki was looking at Shikamaru like he was insane. "Why'd you just quit? You had me, all you needed to do was throw a shruikan or something,"

Shikamaru smiled at her. "I had about enough chakra to keep up my jutsu for about another two seconds. Unlike you, I know my limits; I know when to give up." When he said this, he nodded at her arm. Layuki looked and let out a cry of alarm. Her left arm was all bloodied up from his explosive note and her blood had already soaked her shirt. She suddenly felt light-headed and surprised that she hadn't noticed it before. "You better go up to the infirmary, you've lost a lot of blood and if you faint now that'll just give me more stress."

She scowled at him and walked away. "I don't need a medic, Karin's cream works miracles." So, instead of walking back up to the balcony, she headed straight to where her teammates were.

As Shikamaru predicted, Sasuke did show up at the last minute; right when the proctor was about to say Gaara won by default. Layuki sighed as she sat on the steps next to Karin's seat.

"Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl was sitting in front of Karin and pulled her gaze away from Sasuke and looked at the person who had called her name questioningly. "Yes?" Before saying what she wanted to say, Layuki tightened her fresh bandage on her arm. Somewhat awkwardly, she looked up at Sakura, but she avoided those emerald eyes.

"Sasuke-san has that mark on his neck…I remember it from the prelims," She rambled on for another couple seconds, trying to avoid a direct question. Then she gave up and asked straight out. "Who gave it to him?"

Her question surprised Sakura, who had been expecting a mere 'what is it?' She regarded Layuki suspiciously. "What do you mean by that question, what do you know?" Layuki was about to answer when Naruto ran to Kakashi, with Shikamaru close behind, saying something about Gaara. It took a lot of her will power not to tune into the conversation, but she turned back to Sakura.

"I can't answer that. I already have a hunch about who gave it to him, I'm just making sure. Besides," She felt a grin spreading across her face, "I have my own sources of getting information, and if I told you, I would have to kill you." She said this so flawlessly that even she almost believed it. After all, she was almost certain that Orochimaru gave Sasuke the mark, and she got the information from her sister's letter. But she certainly wasn't going to tell anyone about that.

Sakura looked at her for another second, then she turned away. "If you really do have a hunch, like you said, then you're probably thinking of the right person. Anyways, I'm not allowed to tell anyone, I promised Sasuke-kun."

Layuki snorted. "Oh right, your sweet precious Sasuke-_kun_. I don't get what you see in him, he's a bastard. Ouch, what was that for?" She growled and rubbed the back of her head where Karin had just hit her.

"Shut up Layuki, can't you tell the poor girl's in love with him?" Karin hissed in her ear, making shivers go down her spine. She hated it when people breathed on her.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm actually quite curious to see this match, my bets on Gaara." She focused her attention to the two fighters, Sasuke in particular. Her Hirukagan was activated and she was seeing the fight through his eyes, at least until her chakra failed on her.

That was one disadvantage of her kekkei genkai, it consumed a lot of her chakra, especially if used when she was fighting or when she was under stress. Another disadvantage, with the third stage in particular, was that she was almost oblivious to everything except that person's mind, which was why she didn't see the attack until Sasuke did.

It actually surprised her that she had enough chakra left to notice and release the genjutsu that had flowed over the arena. She knew what was happening, at once, the sound was attacking.

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**A/N:** I know I'm rushing the exams...like a lot, heh, sorry (:  
I'm excited to write another part that has her and Gaara, but I can't find anywhere to fit it in..  
So I guess you could say I'm having a minor writers block...  
Some suggestions would be great :D  
Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!  
**fanny-kun**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
Enjoy Chapter Nineteen!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. I do not own.

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At first Layuki was so stunned she didn't even do anything. Thanks to Kankorou's mind, she knew it was going to happen, but she didn't expect it to. She didn't think they were actually stupid enough to try and pull off a stunt of this level, not when almost all of Konohagakure's shinobi were located in the one area that was surrounded. After a second or two she got a hold of her senses and looked at her sensei. 

Rei was standing next to Kakashi and Gai, throwing kunai at any sound ninja they saw. When he felt Layuki's gaze on him he turned around for a brief second and nodded. She smiled in return and disappeared.

When she reappeared she was in the examinee's balcony again, where she could get the best view of the stadium. Gaara had just left with his siblings, and four sound ninja had the Hokage and Orochimaru surrounded. Every muscle in her body twitched to go after Gaara, but she wasn't suicidal. She saw that his eyes normally sea green eyes were blood red, and he had somewhat of a monstrous aspect about him. She didn't even want to remember the last time she saw him like that,

"Unexpected, wasn't it?" The sound of the voice startled Layuki so much that she almost fell over the railing. She grabbed a kunai and spun around, sighing in relief when she only saw Shino. She never took much notice of him; she knew he fought with bugs and that he was on the same team as Kiba, but that was it. He really wasn't the kind of person that stood out to her.

"Damn, you almost gave me a heart attack!" She put her kunai back in her weapons pouch, and looked him over. "Yeah, I guess it was." She paused, going over what she was about to say in her head, "Hey, I was wondering since you didn't fight, you must be pretty full of energy and I was wondering if I could borrow some of your chakra. I'm almost out." For effect she gave a small innocent smile with just the right amount of sadness mixed into it.

He looked at her for a moment. "And how do you propose to take my chakra?"

Layuki frowned, she hadn't thought of that. She thought that he could just get one of his bugs to give some to her, but obviously not. She looked down at her glove and tilted her head. Then she looked up and talked toward Shino, when she was about a meter away she stopped and held out her hand. "May I?"

He paused, and then placed one of his hands in her outstretched one. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the metal over her own hand. Before long, she began to feel regenerated with chakra. Right when she started to feel good he yanked his hand away. "That's enough. You're going to drain out all my chakra."

"Heh, right. Sorry. Thanks." She wasn't really paying attention to Shino; instead she was observing her glove with awe. She had absolutely no idea what she had done to deserve a gift as amazing as this. Then she realised that Satsuki must have used this to slaughter the clan. Layuki snapped her head up. She could think of her weapons bloody past later, now she needed to help her village.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Are you sure the bug you planted on him wasn't deranged or something? Because I'm not sensing Sasuke-san's chakra anywhere near." Layuki was beginning to feel impatient. Since she and Shino had left the stadium about five minutes ago, they had come across several of their leaf comrades, who bid them both good luck. They also ran into several more Otogakure shinobi, which made Layuki's temper flare. For a newborn village, the sound was sure crawling with tonnes of annoying ninjas.

Shino glowered at the girl running beside him. "None of my bugs are deranged."

"Yeah well, we better find him soon. I'm really not in the mood to see more sound ninja, my ears hurt. Oh right, thanks back there with beating those guys with your bugs. You really saved me a lot of effort." He didn't even bother answering her. Being around her was almost as tiring as being around Kiba. The almost part being that she wasn't nearly as loud; Kiba obviously felt the need to be loud enough for his teammates, who were both unusually quiet.

"Wait, wait, score! I sense him!" Layuki began to pick up speed till she was moving almost twice as fast as they were before. Shino scowled as he made an effort to keep up.

"Stop that, you're just wasting the chakra you took from me!" She either didn't hear him or pretended not to. After another minute or two of fast running she finally saw Sasuke who had just single-handedly defeated Temari with apparent ease despite the fact that he had just used up much chakra fighting Gaara. The blonde kunoichi had obviously fled in search for her brothers.

"There you are! Finally, we've caught up. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, what's up with the new outfit? It makes you look gay." Just because she respected him didn't mean she needed to show him respect. Sasuke had ditched his white shorts and blue shirt and instead had on a loose brown short and tee jumpsuit

"Shut up, what are you doing here?" He really didn't mind Shino, so he directed his question at Layuki, who had put on an expression of mock humbleness.

"Well sire, I, _we_, decided that it would be best to use our time helping a fellow faithful leaf ninja. You should thank us, your honour." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she made a low, dramatic, mocking bow. Then she looked up and examined him, frowning when she sensed that his chakra was stronger. "As curious as I am as to where you've been the past half-month, I think it's more important that you find Gaara-sa…should I even call him san? Anyways, you should go look for Gaara and his siblings. We'll talk later. I'm mighty interested to hear how you mastered the chidori so quickly." She winked and continued talking. "You two go on ahead, I'll wait here for Naruto-kun, Sakura, and Shikamaru. I can sense them coming. Sayonara lads."

With that being said, she waved happily to them then she jumped up on a tree and promptly sat down. Sasuke and Shino departed and before long the three they had been waiting before arrived accompanied by an odd looking small dog. Layuki stood up to greet them.

"Hey kiddos. Took you guys long enough. I've been sitting here for, oh I don't know, a full seven minutes."

"Wow seven whole minutes. Dreadfully sorry Layuki, dreadfully sorry; how will you find it in your heart to forgive us?" Sakura wasn't looking at her when she spoke; she kept poking her head to the side to see if she could see Sasuke.

"I'll manage. This, uhm, let's call it an invasion, is really starting to get on my nerves. I mean, look at that fire over there! I'll be seriously angry if my apartment is wrecked. If it is then I'll have to get an, ugh, _job_. A and B ranked missions hardly pay enough for my rent, and it's one of the cheapest in town!" She paused, and then stepped aside. "You were to follow Sasuke-san, correct? He went that-a-way."

Before long they realised they were being followed, by a rather large group of sound ninjas. Shikamaru had been unexpectedly courageous and offered to distract them. Then after that, they had to go out of their way to avoid two ninja who were fighting. The whole time they were being led by a nin-dog that went by the name of Pakkun.

"There! I see them, damn, Sasuke-san's getting pretty beat up – ahh!" As soon as they entered a clearing, some beige coloured thing had flown at Layuki and pinned her, waist down, to a tree. "Damn it! This…is really…tight."

She could feel the thing, which seemed to be part of Gaara, tightening and cutting off her circulation and her breath.

"There, Uchiha. Stand up and fight or this girl will get crushed." Gaara's monotone voice filled the small clearing, and Layuki looked up just in time to see him in the same half human half monster form she saw in the infirmary.

"Ha, I could care less about her." Sasuke's voice was mocking, and it was filled with pain as he clutched at the curse mark Orochimaru gave him.

"Thanks, the…feeling's…mutual." It was getting harder to breathe. She managed to see Gaara attack Sasuke, but Sakura protected him and she ended up in the same position the other girl was in. The sand suddenly tightened so much that Layuki let out a scream, and then she lost consciousness.

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**A/N:** I hate school. It's so pointless and time-consuming T-T  
PS. I started a new fic..those of you who've read (and like) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer check out A Perfect Death. It, of course, has an OC :D  
Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!  
**fanny-kun**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** Okay, so I'm going to Cuba this Saturday for the holidays for about a week. I'll _try_ to update again sometime until then, but if not then you'll have to wait for the new year, sorry about that ):  
Anyways, thanks to all who've reviewed it's really appreciated :D  
Enjoy Chapter twenty!

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Naruto, but sadly I do not.

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Layuki didn't regain consciousness again until she felt a large stab of pain on her cheek, which forced her eyes open. She winced as she felt the blood drip from the cut a kunai just made on her face. When she saw the blonde boy look at her with concern, she scowled and yelled at him. 

"Watch it, Naruto! If you do that again you'll probably kill me." She grabbed the kunai and yanked it out of the tree with all her strength. Holding onto the weapon in both hands, she stabbed at the yellow stuff that held her legs to the tree. "Damn it Gaara, what the hell is this crap?" She muttered under her breath, cursing the Suna ninja at the same time. After about five minutes of cutting away she swore again: partly because the burn on her left arm was really irritating her, mainly because she was downright pissed at the person who pinned her to the tree. "Damn you Gaara, damn you to hell."

With that, she thrust the kunai to the said ninja, but as expected, his sand went up to block it. He sent her a death glare, and then continued aiming sand at Naruto, tightening the thing around her at the same time. Layuki gasped for breath and swore again.

She concentrated chakra into her right arm and watched the metal enlarge. Then she punched the tree behind her making a hole large enough for her to fit her body into and deep enough to get away from the tightness of the thing that glued her to the tree. With all the strength she had left she moved herself over, and breathed a sigh of relief when she settled into the opening. She rubbed her legs, trying to get any feeling she could back into them.

That's when she noticed Gaara, standing almost directly beside her tree. His hand was out in preparation to kill Naruto; Layuki scowled and formed signs with her hands so fast that they were a blur. When she finished, she panted and looked around: Naruto was about to be killed by Gaara, Sasuke was lying motionless a ways away, Temari was far away watching the battle, and Sakura was pinned to a tree, unconscious.

Layuki swore as she put her hands flat on the wood, the metal on her hand was a glove again. She closed her eyes and thought over what she was about to do.

She was going to use all the chakra she had left in this last jutsu. If she was thinking correctly, then it would be so strong that it should blow up the tree and everyone in about a twenty feet radius. Probably even strong enough to break Gaara's sand barrier. Gaara was standing only about five feet from her and wasn't paying the slightest attention to her. She bit her tongue as she thought of the only other person within the twenty feet: herself.

Layuki closed her eyes and told herself that this was for the village. She took a deep breath and forced the chakra out before she lost all her courage.

At first, nothing happened. Then a large '_bang_' could be heard and Layuki felt unbearable pain all over her body. She saw bright light surrounding everywhere she could see. She felt herself falling out of the tree and hitting the ground with a loud 'thud' and she saw one last thing before she went unconscious. What she saw made her want to scream in anger and sigh in relief at the same time.

She saw the boy she wanted to kill stand up slowly with pieces of sand falling off the skin on his face and arms. Gaara was alive; and she was going to die for nothing.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Damn it, most of her wounds are too much for me to fix. Why'd you want to bring her along anyways? That was quite a reckless stunt she pulled, but she gave you a pretty bad burn on your cheek there," Layuki heard voices, and she felt irritated. Couldn't she just die in peace? She wanted to swat the voices away, but her arms were too heavy. She wanted to yell at them to shut up, but her mouth refused move. She wanted to see where she was but her eyes wouldn't open.

"I'm curious, Gaara, why'd you protect her? If it weren't for your sand then she'd be dead, and she wouldn't be a burden for us." It was a different voice that spoke that time, a female voice. And she was talking to Gaara. That was making Layuki angrier, so she was here, and she wasn't dead because the person she was trying to kill had protected her and he got away with only one burn? Odd, she didn't expect this to happen.

She was now well away that she was no longer on the brink of death. Since she couldn't feel much pain, she guessed she wasn't _too_ badly hurt, but she couldn't keep her mind long enough to move any part of her body. Part of her wanted to just to stop fighting and fall away into nothingness. But the other part, the larger part, of her wanted to hear Gaara's answer.

For a moment it was silent until Gaara spoke. "I don't know. It was this feeling; I felt it would be unbearable for me if she died by anything other than my own hand." Layuki groaned inwardly at this. So he had saved her just because to kill her himself? "But Naruto-san taught me something today," Now she almost laughed. The 'san' suffix didn't particularly go with Naruto's name. "He taught me even us jinchuuriki's can live a good life with people important to us. I think…I think that this girl came through to me even before Naruto-san did. I couldn't let her die."

Touching. So very touching. But Layuki didn't let any of this get through to her head until she had finished cursing Gaara to hell; she was still mad that she had almost died and he had got away almost clean. Then she was pretty sure she smiled.

"Thank you, Gaara-kun." She realised that these words had come out of her mouth right before she allowed the part of her that wanted nothingness to take over,

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next time Layuki woke she was in the hospital. She opened her eyes and observed the flowers she had received, and she smiled when she saw Kaoru in the chair next to her bed, apparently asleep. She held in a cry of pain as she sat up. She was wearing baggy pants and a tee shirt that must have belonged to the hospital; her clothes would have been singed from her attack. Then she noticed the bandages all over her arms and legs and she frowned, and wondered how long it's been since the invasion. According to the calendar beside her bed it said the exams were only yesterday, could all that have really only happened in a few hours?

She began to adjust to another more comfortable position when she hit Kaoru with her knee by accident. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you. I – " she was shocked that when she looked at his face, it was tearstained. "Hey, are you okay? You've been crying…" It was awkward; she'd never seen Kaoru cry before, then she realised that Karin wasn't in the room. "Where's your sister?"

He frowned and looked away for a moment. When he looked back at her, he had on a sad smile. "It's a shinobi rule that you're never supposed to shed tears. It's another saying that it doesn't matter as long as no one sees. It's odd how the two contradict." Layuki was really worried now; it wasn't like Kaoru to be like this. Then he looked straight at her, his blue eyes so sad and forlorn. "She's dead, Layuki. Karin's dead."

"Dead?" Layuki was shocked to say the least. She began to wish she hadn't woken up, this wasn't the type of news anyone wanted to be greeted with. "No, she can't be dead, she was just there yesterday…at the exams…" She began to find it difficult to think straight. It wasn't possible Karin was her teammate, she couldn't be dead, she wasn't allowed to be dead. Then she asked the question she dreaded the answer to. "How? How did she…how did she die?"

Kaoru rested his elbows on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands. "It's all my fault. I wasn't too far from her, I saw it coming I should have pushed her out of the way or something. We were trying to get all the women and children to safety, barely a dangerous task compared to what you had to do. But they just came flying, kunai's and shruikan's were everywhere. One hit her in the back, that normally wouldn't have been a problem, but it had an explosive note attached to it…and…and…" He couldn't continue, but he didn't need to. His voice cracked and he looked like he was about to break into sobs, but somehow he held it in. "I couldn't get there fast enough, it's all my fault."

Layuki couldn't find her voice. This wasn't Kaoru's fault at all, not at all. "Who else died yesterday?" She barely listened as he listed off a numerous amount of names, both of shinobi and defenceless citizens. One caught her attention in particular. "What? Did I hear you right? The Sandaime is dead? The third Hokage…" Layuki brought her arms up to cradle her head. "No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. I'm so stupid…this whole thing…I could have…all those deaths…no, I'm dreaming. Kaoru, _please _tell me I'm dreaming. Please, I'm begging you, tell me this isn't real!" It was almost too much to handle. She stood up and, ignoring the pain, opened the window and was about to jump out when Kaoru said something to her.

"This is real, Layuki, this is very real. Please don't get yourself killed as well, I don't think I can take it if one of my friends goes and dies now too…" He didn't look at her as she jumped out. It turned out she had enough chakra to get her down the two stories without breaking her neck, but not enough for much else. When she was on the ground, she noticed a package lying beneath the tree by the window. She walked over to it and saw that the package was addressed to her.

She took the note off and read it, sighing in relief when she saw Shikamaru's signature. She didn't know what she would have done if he went and got himself killed too. She opened the package and almost smiled when she saw her clothes, shoes, and hitai-ate folded neatly. Shikamaru must have known she would have refused to stay in the hospital.

When she was changed she looked in the direction of the village. Layuki didn't really want to go, because she was scared of what she would see. She knew only one thing for certain: the invasion was one hundred percent her fault. And she wasn't sure if she had any room left in her heart for more sadness

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**A/N:** Ah yes, this is the first time I've killed off one of my characters and it was surprisingly easier then I thought I would.  
Layuki's probably going to have a mental breakdown in the next chapter, just a little spoiler ;)  
Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciatedd!!  
**fanny-kun**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Well whoopie, I manged to update before Cuba (:  
Sorry the chapter's kind of short, and I won't be able to update untill the New Year, gomen.  
Thanks a million to my reviewers,  
Enjoy chapter twenty-one :D

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, if I did Sasuke's hair wouldn't look like a black chicken ass.

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The sight of the village was almost too much to bear. Layuki had hoped to be able to walk around without anyone noticing her, invisible, and she succeeded. Everyone was apparently too busy fixing up something or gathering his or her own things to notice her. She stopped when she reached her apartment, or the remains of it at least.

The building in which she had resided on her own for the past year had been burned to the ground. Layuki didn't mind that particularly much, she didn't even worry about the money she needed to pay for another rent. Though something in her room was incredibly valuable to her.

When she ran into the debris, no one stopped her. People just looked up and smiled sadly, then they continued their own work. When she reached the place around where her things should be, she got on her knees. She winced slightly at the pain to her injuries, and began to dig, getting soot all over herself. Finally she spotted it, the glint of the silver frame that held the picture of her squad.

At first Layuki didn't know whether to laugh or to cry or do something in between. The picture itself was fine, except for the bottom left corner in which Karin's picture had burned away. She gave a sad, sad smile. Her friend really had left this world for good. Then she realised the pitying looks people were getting from her. Who wouldn't give a pitying look to a young girl who was looking at a picture and realising her teammate was deceased? After a couple seconds those looks were too much to handle, she pocketed the picture and ran into the forest with no intention of stopping.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki ran with her eyes closed, not caring if she crashed into a tree or not, but running was second nature to her, she didn't even need to think about it. When she finally thought she was isolated from the world enough to stop, she tripped over a tree root; making herself fall face first into some mud by a small pond.

She brought her hand off to wipe all the grime off of her face. Then she realised that her face was wet wish something else too: tears. She slammed her fist down into the mud and swore loudly with all the words she knew.

"Damn it all," Her voice was beginning to crack and she feared that she was going to break into sobs. "Kami! Why the bloody hell are you doing this to me? What the fuck have I done to deserve all this misery?" She began yelling to the sky, hitting her fists in the ground over and over again like a misbehaving child. "Why is it always _me_ who gets this shit thrown at them? Haven't I suffered enough this lifetime? Damn these tears, why won't they go away. I don't want to cry!"

Before she got these words out of her mouth, tears started streaming down her cheeks. She didn't want to cry, a year ago she had promised herself she would never cry again and this was the first time she had ever broken a promise. With effort she stood up and began to walk shakily further away from the village. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, all vulnerable. Before she got more than a few steps she collapsed again, this time on drier ground at least. She lay on her side and rolled herself into a ball, attempting to hide herself from the world that seemed to hate her so much.

She didn't know how long it had been, but soon after she collapsed she heard a rustling of bushes and saw two feet step in front of her. Layuki's face was still wet and she refused to let anyone see. When she heard the person sit down next to her she risked taking a peek.

Gaara was sitting cross-legged and staring at her with an expressionless face. To her, he looked as much like a God sitting in front of the trees as he did the day she saw him on sitting on the rooftop just a few weeks ago. To add to her misery, Layuki felt her cheeks heat up and she hid her face once again, with questions racing through her mind. Wasn't everyone from the sand supposed to be gone by now? If someone from her village saw him here surely he would be attacked, right?

"You should be resting to heal your wounds." Great, so now she couldn't pretend to be unconscious. She didn't want to answer him, but she couldn't help it. She kept her face hidden nonetheless.

"I couldn't care less about the state I'm in right now. I'm starting to wish I died like all those other people. You bastard, you shouldn't saved me, you should have left me there to die." She knew her words were harsh, and at any other time she wouldn't have spoken them. But now she didn't care anymore.

"I can kill you now, if you wish."

This made Layuki shut up. She never knew how to talk to Gaara. "No, I'm sorry. I don't want to die." Then she wiped her face and glared at him with as much hate as she could muster: not much. "Why are you here?"

"I was just leaving. I could ask you though, you're no longer in your village." Layuki gaped. Now that she mentioned it, it was possible that she ran out of the gates without noticing. But when she thought of her village, she began sobbing again and trying to hide her face once more. "Should I ask why you are crying?"

She supposed she should hate him, for being part of the attack, but she couldn't find the will in her heart to. Instead, she let out a quiet laugh. "I should be blaming you, shouldn't I? I should try to be killing you right now, yelling 'it's all your fault' but I hate myself too much. Everything was my fault. All my fault!" She thought it would feel better when she started talking about it, but it was driving her crazy, and yet she couldn't stop speaking. "I knew what was going to happen. But I was stupid and arrogant and desperate to prove my point. I was such a fool, such a stupid bloody fool!

"Something of this scale, even Naruto-kun would have been smart enough to tell some people about it. I didn't even tell the other genin, I just kept it to myself telling myself everything would be all right. But nothing is right. The whole village is screwed and it's all my fault." _All my fault, all my fault, all my fault! _Her mind was replaying those three words were playing in her head over and over again. "Damn it! I change my mind. Gaara please, please kill me!"

She had grabbed on to his collar and his sand had begun swirling around to protect him at any given moment. She was losing her head. All this guilt and sadness was beginning to make her go insane. He looked down at her, his aquamarine eyes still expressionless.

"You're standing on the fine line between bravery and idiocy. Your village can't afford to lose another ninja." He began prying her hands away from his shirt, never breaking eye contact.

"The fine line between protectiveness and selfishness, between prodological and egotistic, between genius and luck, and now bravery and idiocy! I'm standing on more fine lines than is mentally healthy for a person. _I can't afford to lose my sanity_!" Her eyes were begging. "Kaoru-kun lost his sister, countless citizens lost family members, and my whole village lost its leader. Do you think I'm mentally capable of walking around and looking into people's eyes just to see sadness for years to come? The guilt will devour me; I'm beginning to lose my mind just thinking about it!" Then she heard voices calling Gaara's name. She began feeling thankful that she didn't have enough chakra for anybody to sense.

"I have to leave now." He pushed her off of him and stood up, but she grabbed onto his shirt, tugging like a small child.

"No, don't leave. I don't want to be alone, not again." Layuki felt light-headed, as if the mind inside it had already left. She knew before long the tears would come back, and she couldn't go back to the village while she was teary. "To think, in less than twenty-four hours I've gone from masterminded to mentalminded. I might as well say something before I really lose it." Then she looked up at him again with eyes full of sadness and misery. "I think…" She went silent, trying to understand the unexpected urge to tell the truth. She looked up to him one more, this time with confused eyes. "I think…I love you."

Gaara was speechless, but he didn't show his surprise; he was very good at hiding his emotions. But he let out a small smile that Layuki didn't notice because she was still staring into the distance with unfocused eyes. He once again pried his fingers away, his hands lingering longer than was necessary on her cold skin. Then he walked away without looking back and she didn't protest.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Gaara was out of hearing distance from Layuki, he stopped. "You can come down now, I won't kill you."

The figure in the tree froze up for a second, and after a moment's hesitation it jumped down, obviously trying to keep its distance away from Gaara. "Sorry, I couldn't be sure. You tried to kill me once before."

Gaara looked over at the boy with a bored expression, but he was beginning to get irritated. "What do you want?"

Inuzuka Kiba grinned, showing all his white fanged teeth, even though Akamaru was whimpering in his coat. "I just had to make sure that she wouldn't die."

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**A/N: **Ohh, what's Kiba doing there? Is it ROMANTIC INTERFERENCE? Yes, I believe it is, I have to have it in this fic somewhere ;)  
Oh, and, _LOPE_,a wonderful reviewer, takes credit for the 'masterminded to mentalminded' part. :D  
Thanks for reading! People who review get cookies (:  
(btw, how did I do on the breakdown? I didn't like it too much..)  
**fanny-kun**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** I'm backkk!!  
First off, I'll wish everyone a Happy New Year!  
Now Enjoy Chapter twenty-two!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto...well just be glad I don't ;)

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"Gaara?" Layuki felt someone pick her up, but she didn't want to move her head to look at who it was. She just wanted a little more time away from the world. 

"No, it's me." The voice snapped her back into consciousness. She looked at Kiba as if he were the first human being she ever saw. Then she closed her eyes again, mentally scolding herself. If this was war and an enemy shinobi had found her in her state then she would be dead. Then she frowned up at him with a depressed expression.

"Where's Gaara-kun? Where are you taking me? Put me down!" She pounded on his chest and he dropped her. When she hit the ground she quickly stood up and backed away from Kiba as if he were the plague. Then she asked again, "Where's Gaara-kun?"

"He had to go back to his village," Layuki scowled at the way Kiba was talking to her, as if she were a young child. "I'm going to take you back to Konoha, okay?" 

"Don't talk to me like that! I'm not a little kid who needs to be comforted. I want to know why you are here. I'm in a really pissed off mood right now, Inuzuka, and I want answers!" She pointed an accusing finger at him, glaring all the while.

"Oh, so I try to help you and you start yelling at me?" Akamaru whimpered from the ground beside him. "If you seriously need to know then I followed you in here so you wouldn't commit suicide because you're thinking Karin's death and everyone else's is all your fault. You tend to do those things when tragedy happens, without knowing how much you worry other people! You should have seen yourself after your sister left, all depressed and thinking you were the reason!"

Layuki's temper flared. Kiba was hitting a weak point, saying those things about her sister. "So I get guilty easily, so what? I never asked for anyone to worry about me, I never said I wanted someone to console to. At least feeling guilty over things proves I still have a heart.

"Karin liked you, didn't you know? It was incredibly obvious, even someone with as think a head as you should have realised that she was practically in love with you. What was wrong with her, I seriously don't know! Whenever I mentioned your name she would go bright red in the face and start swooning!" She swore when she felt her eyes welling up again, but this time she resisted and she didn't let the tears fall. "She really liked you, Kiba and here you go talking about her death like it was nothing, nothing at all!"

He was speechless. He couldn't mutter more than a word, "What?"

Layuki was so angry that she could barely take it. She wanted to throw a kunai at him, but she didn't have her weapons pouch or her shruikan holster with her, and she didn't have enough chakra to use her glove. "That's all you can say? What the hell is wrong with you? How the hell can you just stand there like a clueless fool? You are such a sick – ugh!" Before she could finish she fell to her knees and started coughing up blood. All at once pain drifted through her body and she swore. She was finally starting to feel her injuries from the day before. And they hurt; they hurt like hell. It felt like she was walking through a fire, every part of her body that was touching something screamed with agony. The burns from her lightning attack were singeing her skin. "Damn it all!"

This time she didn't struggle when Kiba lifted her up and started carrying her back to the village. She was semi-conscious by the time she they reached the gates. When they neared the hospital she started acting up again.

"Damn it, if you take me to that hospital then I will murder you!" It hurt her to talk, but she didn't let that stop her. She lifted her arms, even though it caused her to wince, and hit him over and over again.

"Ouch! Stop that, will you? I'm trying to help, where do you want me to take you then? Or do you want me to just drop you and leave you here?" Kiba growled at her, but she worried him. Her weight was too light even for someone of her height.

Layuki stopped thrashing and was silent for a moment. "Gaara. Take me to Gaara. I want to see him." She looked up at the Inuzuka's face and saw that he really thought she was mental. Then she realised that her request was next to impossible.

"You sure you're feeling alright? 'Cause I think you might be delusional, he's probably long gone by now. By the way, when was the last time you ate? You weigh less than my nee-chan's smallest dog." Layuki glared at him.

"What do you expect? I haven't eaten since yesterday before the exams and my metabolism is pretty high. Besides, I've been through a lot of stress in the last twenty-four hours; stress does hell on a girl's body. But you would know all about that wouldn't you, Kiba?" She winked mockingly at him even though it made pain flow across her face. He scowled at her. She thought for a moment and added, "Take me to Shikamaru's house. His okaa-san is a medical nin. Besides, I think he's the only one who can solve my dilemma."

"You mean the one about you thinking the whole attack was your fault?" He looked away when she looked up at him with suspicious eyes. "Yeah, I was there, in the trees, when you were ranting off to your precious sandman." He didn't look at her, but he could feel her glare piercing straight through him.

"Are you meaning to say that you were _spying_ on me?" her voice was dripping with coldness, and she glared at him, her eyes showing the same accusation as her voice did. When Kiba neither said anything or looked at her, she thought she was going to burst with anger. "What in hell makes you think you have the right to do that?" Her temper was flaring so wildly that she could almost no longer feel her injuries. Then she quieted down, guilt covering her like a blanket again as she remembered her conversation with Gaara. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing I haven't told you already. You think the whole attack was your fault and if you'd have done something you could have stopped it. Personally, I think you're ego is getting too big. Do you honestly think you had the power to stop the attack that destroyed half out village? Ouch!" He dropped her when she made a hard and well-aimed hit at his chest.

Her anger flared once again clouding her pain; she stood up and walked away from him and towards Shikamaru's house. When she spoke to him, she didn't turn around. "Do you have any idea how much you're pissing me off? You know how easily I get mad, and that Kankorou guy, Gaara's, older brother, really hit the mark. He was part of the attack you know, and Kaoru-kun told me that he was the one who almost killed Shino-san. I stood in the finalists balcony with him for half an hour, anyone who knows me would have known that I would have gotten angry enough to use my Hirukagan on him. And of course, he was busy thinking about the attack, so that was the first thing I caught on to."

"Wait, so you really did know? Why didn't you say something?" Kiba was following her, waiting to hear the rest of her tale.

Layuki turned and glared at him. "Of course I knew. And the rest of my story you've already heard from eavesdropping on me and Gaara. I was a fool, I was trying to prove a point, and it got half the village and Hokage-sama killed."

"Yeah, I heard that." He sped up so he was walking beside her. He paused before adding, "I heard a bunch of other things too."

Kiba was beginning to get on her nerves. She would have beaten him to a bloody pulp if she weren't so nervous of getting another pain attack. "That's what you get from listening in to other people's conversations. People who eavesdrop hardly ever hear anything they like."

"I guess that's true. I didn't really like that one part." 

Layuki was curious now. "Oh? And what part may that be?" She stopped now, they were right in front of Shikamaru's house.

He took his time picking Akamaru up off the ground and putting the puppy in his jacket. He spoke again after fidgeting with his hands. "You still owe me. Remember the time I saved you from drowning? That was about a month ago after you fought with Neji."

Layuki couldn't help it, she laughed. "Are you serious? Did you forget that I repaid my debt when I saved the lives of you an your teammates from Gaara's sand in the Forest of Death? I owe you nothing." She took Akamaru from his jacket and held the small dog in her arms, petting its head. "I'm curious though, why bring that up now? What were you hoping to gain by it?" Kiba's answer startled her so much that she almost dropped the puppy.

"I was hoping to gain you."

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**A/N: **Ahaha, that's so cheesy. I love Kiba, I think he actually ties with Gaara as my favourite male character in Naruto. Then after them Its Deidara (L)  
Thanks for reading, reviews make me happy! (:  
**fanny-kun**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Kay I'm really sorry!  
This chapter is like, crappy beyond..crappy.  
But I'm stressing over school too much to rewrite it, sorry!  
exams are soon T-T  
I'm gonna die studying..  
Well I'm planning to end this fic chapter 35ish, so theres still a long way to go..:D  
Kay, done my rant now.  
Thanks so much to my reviewers, enjoy chapter Twenty-three!!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. It makes me sad ):

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"Please tell me you did not just say what I thought you said," Layuki put Akamaru down gently and backed away from boy in front of her. "_Please_." 

"Come on, just give me a chance! I'm better for you than that sand freak will ever be!" Whenever she took a step back, Kiba took a step forward. "Hasn't he tried to kill you five times or something? I'll never hurt you, I promise."

Layuki scowled. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"What do you mean? I know I can keep it, just give me a chance. Please?"

She swore under her breath when she felt herself back up into a tree trunk. "You don't understand! It doesn't work that way. I don't have any feelings for you, Kiba, and I'll be damned if I ever do. I hate your attitude."

Kiba stopped a couple feet in front of her and felt his temper rise. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You act too much like I do!"

It was silent for a moment as both of them took a moment to think. Kiba got hold of his senses first. "You do know that made no sense, right?"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Then she looked up at the sky, recalling distant memories. "It made perfect sense. Ever since I was little I knew that if I ever met myself, I would hate me. I hate how I'm bitchy; I hate how I hate to cry. I hate how I lose my temper so easily and I really hate how I'm afraid to act like myself in front of certain people! I hate my attitude. I'm so arrogant, stubborn, and pushy and I think I'm the most important person in the world. I'm a bloody coward; the only thing I'm good at is avoiding anything and everything but conflicts. Most of all, I hate how much I love life. I'm proud to be the sibling of an S-ranked criminal. I like how I want to be like my sister. I'm glad that most of my clan is wiped out, because now my Hirukagan is more unique than it ever was. I'm happy to have killed the people I did during the exams." She paused a moment, to let her words sink in, then she looked directly into his eyes. "I'm sorry Kiba, I lied. We're not the same, not at all. I'm a worse person then you could ever be."

To her surprise Kiba laughed. "I'm not the one who doesn't understand. What you just said is exactly why I like you. You aren't afraid to say whatever you want about anybody, or yourself." He smiled, "By the way you're talking your sounding, it's like you think you have no good in you. You're listing all your negatives, but you're forgetting you're this person who will sacrifice herself for her friends. Don't worry about it, I think you're good enough for me."

Layuki's gaze flickered to him into an annoyed glare. She scowled. "Who the hell do you think you are? I never said I wasn't good enough for you, I only said I was a worse person then you. The worst people tend to get what they want out of life." Before he could blink her glove had morphed into a blade and the point was directly at his throat. Her anger seemed to fuel her enough to use chakra. "I am not a prize to be won. When I say I don't have feelings for you, I mean it. Besides, it might be better for your safety to go after someone else, next time I get angry, my arm might just slip…"

She moved her blade to the side, making the smallest cut in his skin. Kiba scowled and pushed the metal away, being careful of the sharp edge. He was quiet for a moment so she could make the blade into a glove again. After flexing her fingers, she began to walk towards Shikamaru's house.

"Answer me one question then," She stopped walking to show she heard his words, but she didn't turn around. Kiba looked down at his fists, which were shaking. "What do you see in him?"

Silence again. Then after a moment she turned her head and grinned a catlike grin at him. "A mystery waiting to be solved." Then, without even knocking, she opened Shikamaru's front door and walked straight in, leaving Kiba standing behind, alone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki stormed through the doors of Yamanaka flowers and walked straight to Ino, who was sitting at the cash register looking bored. She had just left Shikamaru's house in a newly fit rage. But she did feel better though, the cream and new bandages really helped her wound heal. She couldn't say much about the house's youngest resident. Shikamaru had pissed her off almost as much as Kiba had.

She stopped when she was in front of the blonde's chair and sat down cross-legged. She placed her elbow on her knew and her chin in her hand. Then she stared unblinkingly at Ino.

"What is it?" She was beginning to get annoyed; having someone with almost no pupils stare at you for a time was quite disconcerting. Finally, Layuki sighed and closed her eyes.

"I hate boys. They should all go and die." Then she paused. "But you know who should die first? Shikamaru. Or Kiba. Better yet both of them; they should burn in hell."

Ino laughed, "Haha, what'd you do this time?" Layuki scowled again.

"_I_ didn't do anything." Ino waited until she told her story, leaving out nothing. She didn't care if the blonde told the whole village; she just needed to let out some steam.

"I see you've got quite a problem. I would tell you to talk to them, but knowing you, you'd probably get mad and kill them before they even said a word." Layuki snorted and looked away.

"Yeah, but Ino, I haven't told you everything yet."

Ino looked suspiciously at the other girl. "What exactly do you mean?" Layuki sighed and stared Ino straight in the eye. Then she rephrased her question. "What are you planning on doing?" The shorter girl grinned.

"You know me too well, Ino-chan. As soon as this village appoints a new Hokage, I'm going to see them." She paused, looking for the right words. "I told this to Shikamaru and he freaked at me, well his version of freaking at least. So please don't say anything, after I finish taking, I'm gone to get ready for the funeral. But yeah, anyways." She took a deep breath, "In a couple months or so, I plan to leave the village."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The Sandaime's funeral was easier than she thought it would be. But still, she had to clench her fists together hard so the guilt would stay away. The looks she felt Ino shooting at her weren't helping either. She felt selfish, trying to keep herself under control and not even keeping in mind the people who lost so much more than she did.

Next to her, she could feel Kaoru shaking. She didn't blame him, how could he be a twin if he didn't have a sibling? When it was their turn to pay respects, Layuki grabbed his hand and guided him to the front.

She bowed her head, letting her long hair fall as a curtain on either side of her. Her fists unravelled shakily, and she placed her own white rose with all the other ones. Memories came back to her about how the Third Hokage helped her through so much. Especially the Fuyaku Massacre the previous year. She looked up at Kaoru and saw that he was staring at a different picture.

In the photograph, Karin smiled back at them brightly. Then a pang of guilt made its way through her mental wall and reminded her that when she left, he would have no more team. She doubted Rei-sensei would take on two more genin, so she figured he would just go to another group.

Kaoru was shaking even more now, and Layuki felt her hand go numb to how hard he was holding it. Saying nothing still, she led him right back to their place beside their sensei. When they were standing again, Layuki looked in front of her, where Iruka was comforting Konahamaru.

The little boy's cries made her wall break down. The guilt was going back to her. She let go of Kaoru's hand and brought her own up to her face. Her hair hung around her again, covering her face like a veil.

But she didn't cry. She had promised herself no more tears, and she vowed never to break another promise.

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**A/N: **Oooh she's leaving..;)  
See I told you this chapter was crappy..  
Well anyways, thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated:D  
**fanny-kun**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **I made this chapter long(er) :D  
Exam week is soon, so updating might be delayed...  
Even more than it already is...  
Ah well.  
Thanks so much to my reviewers! Enjoy chapter twenty-four:D

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, it's as simple as that.

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Layuki slid down the wall in an alleyway, tired from all the running around in the village she just had to do. Upon remembering that she no longer had an apartment, she'd spent the morning looking for a good rent for an apartment, to no avail. All the places were either completely full, or well out of her price range. Her pride would not allow her to ask to live at a friends' house for a few months, and she grudgingly began to consider the fact that she might have to stay at her clan compound. 

"Hey, Layuki!" A bored voice drifted to her and, due to the echo, she couldn't figure out who it was. She opened one eye then immediately closed it again when she saw Shikamaru walking unenthusiastically towards her.

"What do you want?" She wasn't annoyed so much as surprised. She didn't think he would talk to her again so soon after how she yelled at him the other day.

Shikamaru stopped when he was in front of her, and looked at her tiredly. "Man, this is such a drag." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "My okaa-san said that you can take our guest room, if you want. Since you're only going to be here for another few months and you're apartment is kinda a pile of ashes." Before he knew it Layuki had thrown her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Jeez, you're so troublesome! Don't thank me, it wasn't my idea."

"Tell ane-san (**1**) thanks for me! If it's all right with her, then I'll be here tonight." She grinned as she stepped on tiptoes and patted his head. "And don't worry, I won't be around to bother you. I'll be there after you go to sleep, and I'll be gone before you wake up."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah, I'll never know what you do when you're awake for that long. Personally, I like to sleep in pretty late."

"That's because you're a lazy ass." Then she grinned. "Being the genius you are, I would have thought you'd realised I spend that time training. Working so hard in the sunshine makes me all gross. Anyways, thanks to you, I've got my residence for the next months covered; now all I have to do is have a talk with Rei-sensei. Talk to you later Shika-chan!" Before he could get annoyed at her, she was gone so fast that he almost doubted he she was even there in the first place. She left no evidence behind, except for a few footprints.

"Troublesome girl," Shikamaru shook his head and began walking away. "Sometimes even I can't figure her out."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki swore as she walked out of her sensei's apartment building, causing a mother with a young child to look at her disapprovingly. She smiled sheepishly and jogged at a leisure pace towards the other side of the village. After about a minute she began to grow impatient and run faster, dodging people who were all outside on this sunny afternoon. Then she somehow managed to run straight into somebody, causing herself to fall to the ground.

"Watch where you're going." A voice said to her. Then she saw the person offer a hand to help her up. She was about to take it, but when she saw whom it belonged to, she slapped the hand away.

"Watch where you're standing, Inuzuka." She retorted as she got up and ran straight passed Kiba without so much as looking back. She figured that if she were cold enough to him, he would eventually leave her alone.

When Layuki reached her destination, she tried to figure out where Rei would be. The receptionist in his apartment had told him he was called to Kakashi's place only about an hour earlier. She supposed it would be easier just to use her Hirukagan to figure out where he was, but she wasn't particularly in the mood to waste chakra.

"What are you doing here?" She spun around and saw Sasuke standing behind her. He was looking at her with a confused expression. This was the first time she'd seen him since the exams. Layuki looked him over before answering.

"So you're still alive? And you don't seem to have any injuries either, that's a shame." Then she looked back to the buildings. "You wouldn't happen to know where Kakashi-sensei lives, would you?"

When she looked at him out of the corner of one of her eyes, she saw that he now donned a bewildered expression. "Why the hell would you need to know where my sensei lives?"

"Because I want to rape him, why else?" She turned and laughed at shock and disgust that covered his face. "Haha, do you seriously believe everything people tell you? That won't get you far in life. If you must know, I need to talk to Rei-sensei and his receptionist told me he was here." She let out a last chuckle. "Now if you're finished staring at me like that, I would appreciate it if you showed me the way now, since obviously you were planning on seeing him too."

Without another word Sasuke turned and walked up the stairs, Layuki following behind him. When they reached the room that seemed to belong to Kakashi, Sasuke knocked three times and opened the doors.

To say the least, the sight wasn't exactly what either of the genin needed to see. "What the hell…" Layuki started, but Sasuke cut her off.

"Kakashi!" he paused for a second and turned to the people in the room. "Why is Kakashi asleep? It's bright daylight."

Layuki turned to her own sensei, who was leaning on a desk. "What happened to him, Rei-sensei? Don't bother lying to me; I know this isn't a normal sleep. If it was, then there wouldn't be four jounin in the room with him." Rei looked at her tiredly, his navy hair even more messed up then he usually was. Before he could respond, another shinobi ran inside the apartment.

"Is it true that _the _Uchiha Itachi is back, along with _the_ Fuyaku Satsuki?" The newcomer panted, "And is it true that they're after Uzumaki Naruto?"

Before anyone else had anytime to react, Layuki was out of the room and down the stairs. When she was outside she looked around excitedly. It was extremely coincidental that both her and Sasuke were there when it was announced that both their older siblings had set foot in the village again. But she didn't think of that, she just wanted to see her onee-chan again.

But one fact almost extinguished her desire to see her sister, the fact that she and Itachi were after Naruto. Well, they were more after the thing inside of him, but she wasn't going to get specific. Even if it killed her, she wouldn't let them take the demon.

Soon Sasuke came out of the apartment too, and was apparently surprised that she was still there. He ran off in the direction of Naruto's apartment. She swore then began running after him. "Baka, stop wasting your energy running! He's not in the village anymore, none of them are."

"How would you know?" Layuki didn't even bother wasting her breath to answer. Sasuke had reached the door now and pushed it open without knocking. Sakura stumbled out and looked bewilderedly at her teammate. Before she could say anything Sasuke asked, "Where's Naruto?"

Sakura was speechless for a moment, then, "He's not here…I don't know where he is. Why?" the pink haired girl still had a shocked expression when Sasuke ran off again. Layuki gave her a small smile and ran after the raven-haired boy. She stopped when she found him at Ichiraku Ramen in time to hear the old man answer.

"Yeah he was here earlier. Jiraiya-sama came by and he said something about going to a lodging just outside the village…"

Before the man could finish Sasuke ran off again. Layuki sighed and said a quick, "Arigatou ou-san!(**2**)" Before running after him. Soon they were both outside the village and in sight of the lodging. When they reached it, they looked down the single busy street.

"Kay Sasuke, we have to move fast if we want Naruto to be alive when we find him; so I'll check the shops on the left, you take the right." Then they split up. Layuki went in and out of stores asking for a kid with blonde hair and a creepy looking man with white hair. When she got to a hotel, she finally got a positive answer.

The receptionist wasn't willing to give out a room number, even with Layuki's prodding. The woman eventually gave in when the young girl gave out a death threat. "Yes, yes, hold your horses. Let's see…they're in room 8, second floor.

After a quick 'thanks' she ran out and spotted Sasuke on the other side of the street. "Yo Sasuke! Over here, he's in here!" He ran over and started up the stairs after asking her what room it was. When he ran past her, he saw his eyes were crimson with the Sharingan and she swore.

When they reached the top, they saw two figures in black and red cloaks cornering Naruto. One was a man with blue skin; the other was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

_Uchiha Itachi of Konohagakure, Hoshigaki Kisame from Kirigakure…but where's my sister?_ Layuki's heads were full with thoughts. Some were about how they were supposed to survive, and some were about how they were going to get Naruto.

"Sasuke, it's been a long time." Itachi didn't turn around, and his voice was cold.

Layuki tuned out of the conversation to activate her Hirukagan, but decided against it. With her kekkei genkai activated, she wouldn't be able to react in time if they were attacked. She went back to thinking about a plan, until she noticed Sasuke forming a chidori.

She swore and kicked his hand. Then she tackled him to the wall and pinned him there with her shoulder. "Are you trying to get us killed? They're S-class criminals, Sasuke,_ S-class_! It doesn't matter how strong you think you are, you're only a genin. If you attack you'll just get hurt!"

He pushed her off and scowled. "Are you forgetting who you're talking to? My brother killed my whole clan; do you expect me to just run away?" it was Layuki's turn to scowl.

"Are _you_ forgetting who _you're_ talking to? You don't have to use your tragic past as an excuse for me; personally, I think you're being a whiney brat. The thing is I don't want you risking my life, or Naruto-kun's, for your damn revenge. So yes, I do expect you to just run away." She poked him in the chest hard and he hit her, harder.

She took a deep breath to calm down and touched her cheek, which was very red. Then she heard laughing.

"Haha, some rescue team you are! You guys can't even stop arguing. Though the girl is pretty sensible, attacking us would pretty much be suicide." Kisami grinned, showing all his pointed teeth.

Layuki grinned mockingly at him. "Yeah, I was wondering one thing. Why do you look like a fish?" The missing-nin scowled at her and raised his sword. But Sasuke had already activated his chidori and pushed past Layuki, and destroyed the wall of the hotel.

"Baka," She yelled when Itachi snapped his wrist. Sure she was concerned, but a broken hand wasn't going to kill him. She took her chance and ran over to Naruto, who was beginning to be surrounded by orange chakra. She planted herself in front of the blonde boy and spread out her arms as Kisame raised his sword at Naruto.

"I know why you want him; I know all about the Akatsuki, I've done my research. I also know what your Samehada can do, so don't bother attacking. If you want Naruto then you'll have to kill me first." She focused chakra on her right arm and felt her glove beginning to morph into a blade.

Kisame eyed her and her weapon for a moment. "You know, you remind me a lot of someone. You have her weapon…and it seems you have the Hirukagan as well. My, my, isn't this coincidental? Both you and Itachi are reunited with your younger siblings. Doesn't it seem so, Satsuki?"

"Yes Kisame, I believe it does." Out of the shadows walked Fuyaku Satsuki. Layuki's eyes opened wide, she didn't even sense her chakra at all. Satsuki was almost as tall as Kisame, and her hair, which was the same onyx colour as her sister's, just brushed her shoulders. She wore the same black cloak with red clouds as her comrades did, and the grin on her beautiful face very menacing. "It's been a long time, Layuki."

"Satsuki…onee-chan…?"

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**A/N:** Ah, the sister comes in at last (:

Just some translations, for no specific reason:  
(**1**)ane-san: is a respectful term for an older woman (Layuki calls Shikamaru's mom this at the beginning)  
(**2**)Arigatou: Thankyou  
ou-san: means 'uncle' but is also said to young men that are like family, or friendly old men (that sounds creepy...)

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!  
**fanny-kun**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:** Aha! I managed to make another long chapter (by my standards)  
I feel proud.  
Thanks to all who reviewed, enjoy chapter twenty-five!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto is not mine...not even Gaara T-T

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There was silence between the two sisters for a moment, which was cut off by a Kisame. "I'm confused. Why aren't you two fighting?" 

Neither of them answered. The blue-skinned man sighed and lifted his Samehada at Naruto. Layuki swore and made to go by his side but she found that her sister was holding on to her with a firm grip, smiling. "Let's not interfere, shall we?"

She scowled and tried to struggle free. "Naruto!" Her call was too late, the large sword had been swung directly at the blonde boy who was attempting to perform the summoning jutsu. The attack, however, was stopped when a giant toad appeared out of a pouf of smoke with the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, standing on its back with an unconscious woman slung over his shoulder.

The sage gently laid the woman against the wall and addressed the Akatsuki members. "You guys don't know at all. I'm better than you think I am. I won't let a girl seduce me with her beauty when those as lovely as I am, women come to fawn over my own beauty."

"Wow what a speech," Layuki muttered sarcastically as she sweatdropped. But she obviously wasn't the only one who was disappointed at the Sannin; her sister was looking at the man as well as if he belonged in an asylum.

Naruto pointed an angry finger at him. "Don't be like that, Ero-Sennin, you were swooning after a wink from that lady!"

"Layuki, look at me." Satsuki placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. Layuki tore her gaze away from the scene unfolding. When she looked at her sister, she gasped when she saw that her eyes were completely reversed. White was black and black was white. The parts around the iris was a dark onyx colour and the pupil was a bright alabaster located in the midst of the dull grey iris's the same colour as the younger Fuyaku's.

"What the hell," was all Layuki was able to mutter before she felt her eyes flutter and roll to the back of her head as she collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Kisame was the first to notice what happened. Then one by one people turned to look at the two siblings, even Sasuke and Itachi had temporarily stopped in their fight. Naruto ran towards his friend, but Jiraiya pulled him back, and just in time too. A wall of lightning sparked up right from where Naruto's foot was a moment ago.

"That's Satsuki, alright." Kisame explained to the white-haired man. "She's a master of combining jutsu's. She set up a genjutsu in a circle around herself, when someone crosses that she's alerted and her ninjutsu pops up along the border of that circle. You could call it an absolute defense that she only uses when her Hirukagan is activated, that's when she's oblivious to all else."

Jiraiya was silent for a moment. "I see. So then it's true what they say about how strong the Akatsuki is."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next thing Layuki knew she was standing somewhere pitch black. It was odd to her; if she looked at her arm she could see it clearly, but there seemed to be nothing else but her. Hesitantly she called out, "Hello?"

"I'm behind you." Layuki spun around to see her sister seated in a wooden chair, her left leg crossed over her right one. Then before she knew it, she was in a chair as well. "Drink?" Satsuki offered, and Layuki stared at her, still confused. When she looked at her hand she noticed there was a glass of water in it, which she dropped in surprise. When the glass shattered on what seemed to be the ground, she felt a small throb of pain in her head.

Confused she looked up at her sister. "Where are we? What kind of jutsu is this?"

Satsuki stared at the small girl for a moment, "Where indeed." Then she took a sip of her own water, never taking her oddly coloured eyes off the fidgeting young girl. "What indeed." She added as an after thought. "Another glass?"

Before the words were out another glass of water appeared in Layuki's hands. She swore as she began to lose her temper. Then she threw the glass to the floor, hard. The pain that went through her head this time was almost enough her cry out. "Damn it Satsuki-nee, what the hell is this?"

"This? Why this is a jutsu of course." Satsuki smiled sweetly. "I wouldn't throw any tantrums if I were you, you're the only one that's going to get hurt."

Layuki scowled and made a lunge at her sister. Then suddenly a wall popped up from the floor and she barely managed to stop in time to avoid colliding head first into the solid…well she didn't exactly know what it was. Exasperatedly she said, "Onee-chan, I really would appreciate it if you tell me what you did."

"Alright then. I brought you into your mind." She answered simply, taking another sip of her water. "That's why whenever you throw something at the floor it hurts, because the floor is your head."

"You make no sense, this is _not_ my mind. I'm not this boring."

"Yes, I certainly hope you're not. I've taken over your mind for the time being, but don't worry, you'll have it back soon." She paused to make her chair change into a rocking chair and she rocked back and forth. "Itachi-kun is probably busy torturing his brother right now, so I figured we should talk. What have you been up to this past year? Any boys I should know about?" then Satsuki paused to think. "Oh wait, I saw this one in your head…he's rather cute, Layuki, good job. What did he look like again?"

Satsuki waved her hand in the air and Gaara suddenly appeared beside her chair, but his hair was a chocolaty brown. "You got his hair wrong," Layuki whispered, "It's a blood red. And the scar is on the left side of his forehead." Her sister fixed up the offsets and looked at her handywork.

"Hmm, yes cute. But he looks sort of murderous. Hmm, wasn't there another one?" With another wave of her hand Kiba appeared as well, and like Gaara, he stood still, only blinking once in a while.

Layuki blinked. Once, twice, three times. Then she rubbed her eyes. "This is insane, I'm losing my mind."

Her sister laughed, "Yes, I guess that's one way of putting it. But you've already lost it. Don't worry, like I said, I'll give it back soon." Then Satsuki paused, "Oh yes, I suppose you'd want to know what this is?"

"That's a very good supposition, sister dear." Layuki replied sarcastically. Then before she knew it she was sitting down again in a couch with another glass of water in her hand.

Satsuki smiled. "Long story short: When I found Itachi-kun again, he told me stories of his Mangekyou Sharingan, and I decided to do an experiment. Itachi-kun showed me the hand seals and I altered them slightly to fit more to my preference. Since the Hirukagan is distantly related to the Sharingan, I figured I could make my kekkei genkai change to the heightened state as well." Then she paused to take yet another sip of her water. "It shows me so much more of the human mind than the normal Hirukagan could ever. Surprisingly enough, it barely takes up any chakra, much less than the third stage. I suppose we could call it the Mangekyou Hirukagan, ne?"

"Mangekyou…Hirukagan…?" Layuki's eyes sparkled with excitement and she completely forgot about the figures of Kiba and Gaara. "Onee-chan! That's amazing…you've gotta teach me!"

Satsuki looked her sister over. "Sorry, I don't think you have the guts for it."

Layuki scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I don't think you're capable of obtaining this." Then she paused and made her empty glass of water disappear. "The only way you can get this is if you kill your best friend."

Silence. Neither of the sister's talked, Layuki's eyes widened. "Kill…Shikamaru…?"

"Yep, I was right, you don't have the guts. Why don't you practise?" With another wave of her hand, Satsuki made a figure of Shikamaru appear. When the younger girl looked at her hands she saw several kunai. "So little sister, let's see if you're capable of killing your best friend. Let me tell you one thing though, it's totally worth it. The power of the Mangekyou is even more addicting than the power of your glove."

Layuki scowled and threw the kunai at her sister instead. A wall came up again, blocking the kunai. When the weapons made contact, the pain was enough for Layuki to fall to her knees clutching her head. "No" she whispered. "I'm not going to turn into a sadistic killer like you."

Satsuki tilted her head. "That's a shame. You're best friend is a shinobi, ne? Well, most shinobi die on missions anyways, and I figure he'd rather you kill him than anyone else." Then with another wave of her hand all the three figures fell over in a pool of blood, making Layuki gasp, even though she knew it wasn't real. "If they die, then would you turn into a…what did you call me? A sadistic killer? Anyways, if all your friends die, then would you join me? Because if that's what it takes, I'll kill them all for you if you wish."

"No!" the younger girl got back on her feet and pointed an angry finger at her sister, her voice dead serious. "I don't care about what you did to the clan, but I treasure my friends more than anything. If you lay a finger on any them then I will kill you, no matter what it takes I will kill you."

Satsuki observed her sister for a moment. "Very well then. I have nothing else to say." So she closed her eyes and started forming hand signs, which Layuki supposed were to get them out of her mind. Then a thought crossed her.

"Satsuki-nee?" She paused looking for the right words. "What happens if someone dies in their mind?"

The older sister grinned, looking completely malevolent. "Then they go brain dead. Believe me little sister, it's not something you want me to do to you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Layuki opened her eyes the first thing she saw was her sister standing up and leaving. The next thing she saw was orange goo, which turned out to be toad innards, surrounding everything. What happened next was an explosion and Jiraiya yelling at Naruto. Groggily, she stood up and walked over to the noise.

"Layuki-chan!" she heard Naruto call her name when she neared then he ran over to her. "You're okay!"

She looked at him quizzically, "Why wouldn't I be?" then she noticed Sasuke's motionless body and walked over to him. After a moment, she knelt down and placed two fingers on his neck to feel an irregular heart beat. But it wasn't until she looked into his eyes that she saw he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. They were bland, and the pupils were much too large for the light they were in. Sighing, she stood up and walked back to where the Sannin was pulling out the scroll to put out the black fire.

"This should do, we should check up on Sasuke." Said Jiraiya after he put his scroll away.

Layuki leaned against the wall, which was still covered with orange stuff but she didn't care. "It's no use. Sasuke's in some kind of forcefully induced coma, it'll be a while before he regains consciousness."

"What's wrong with him?" Naruto's voice was angry as he grabbed on to her hitai-ate.

She glared and pried his fingers away. "Itachi used a kind of genjutsu against him, and it must have been extremely powerful. For all I know he can be permanently psychologically damaged, but I don't know, and frankly I don't really care. I have more pressing matters to worry about right now and they're not about Sasuke-san." She paused when she saw a kunai fly out of nowhere and Gai suddenly appear. "Good luck on your journey Naruto, please don't die." With that, she jumped out of the hole after giving a quick nod to Gai.

As she ran back to Konohagakure, her mind was filled with thoughts about her encounter with her sister. Then she grinned. _The Mangekyou Hirukagan…I think I like the sound of that._

**

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**A/N:** Ooh what's the meaning of this? ;)  
We reach a climax at last  
well not really seeing as I have no plot..  
but yay :D  
Thanks for reading!  
Reviews make my day!  
**fanny-kun**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N:** Okay, it's been requested that Shikamaru lives..  
Not that I was ever planning on killing him off..  
But yeah. Yay Shikamaru (:  
Gaara's back in next chapter :D  
Thanks to all my reviewers  
Enjoy chapter 26!

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Kishimoto...who is not me.

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"You call her Tsunade…obaa-chan?" Layuki looked at Naruto inquiringly after the month she hadn't seen him. "Uhm, why? She doesn't even look that old." 

They were standing on the stairway of the Hokage tower. She had been training when the blonde boy and the two Sannin's entered the village and the hyperactive ninja had dragged her along for the ride. She wasn't complaining though, the sooner she could ask for permission to leave the village, the better.

Naruto grinned and looked down at her, making Layuki scowl. She hated the fact that she needed to look up at _everyone_; even some of the academy children were already taller than her. She especially didn't like to look up at the boy in front of her, as he was only a couple centimetres taller. "Because, Layuki-chan, Tsunade-obaa-chan is actually the same age as Ero Sennin, it's some jutsu that makes her look young!"

"Uh-huh…" Layuki said, still not completely sure where this conversation was leading. "Let me guess, it's also the jutsu that makes her boobs look insanely huge?" When the boy nodded she looked over the village. "I see. And she's being made the new Hokage because…?"

It was silent for a moment, and then the blonde scratched the back of his head. "I don't really know."

"Swell." She rolled her eyes. At the end of her eye-roll she spotted two women, arguing, appear suddenly in the doorway. One of them she recognised as Tsunade, and the other she guessed was her secretary and was holding a pig. Deciding to show some respect, Layuki bowed her head slightly. "Ohayou Hokage-sama."

The woman looked down at her, scrutinizing the short girl. "Do I know you?"

Layuki looked up, closed her eyes and smiled so sweetly that Naruto began to wonder if the girl in front of him was real or not. When she spoke it was as if her voice was coated in honey. "No, Hokage-sama. But my name is Fuyaku Layuki, it's an honour to meet you."

The next thing she felt was a pinch at her cheek. Her smiling face dissolved in a scowl and she glared at Tsunade, who smirked. "That's better. You're smile was so fake it was almost blinding. No need to be sweet around me, dear. I won't fall for it."

"No need to pinch me, lady. I was just testing your intellect." Layuki said, still scowling and rubbing her cheek.

Tsunade eyed her again, her smile now genuine. "Watch your mouth. So you're part of the Fuyaku clan, eh? Aren't you supposed to be dead then?"

Layuki shrugged and grinned. "Maybe, maybe not. Though I think I'm very much alive. Do I look dead to you?" Then her grin widened and she mocked a curtsy. "But my sister sends her condolences for you, Hokage-sama."

"Don't mock me, child."

She opened her mouth to retort, but Naruto cut her off. "Stop! There's no time! Tsunade-obaa-chan has to do a job now!" When the Hokage looked at him bewildered, he threw his arms up in exasperation. "The treatments! You have to heal Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-teme and Bushy Brows!"

"Ah." There was a pause. "Hai, alright. Let's go to the hospital, then." Then she looked at Layuki. "Come to my office later, I need to speak with you." She began to walk away, with the other woman following; however, they were soon stopped by two people. One of whom started a small conversation with Tsunade; and the other made Layuki groan.

For the past month, she had made her best effort to avoid Shikamaru under any circumstance: just in case she couldn't control any random urge to murder him. Hopefully the new Hokage would be strong enough to stop any fighting. But just to stay on the safe side, she was going to leave.

"Ohayou Shikamaru, ohayou Shikaku-san." She smiled, "You caught me at a bad time, I was just leaving. I'll see you all later!" With that, she turned and began to walk down the stairs in what she hoped looked like a normal pace.

"Wait, Layuki," She froze, just her luck. The Hokage's call had stopped her just as she was passing Shikamaru; grudgingly she turned and looked expectantly at the woman who just called her name, "I'll be done at the hospital in about an hour, so you can see me then." The girl nodded and quickly turned again. "Oh and you to Shikamaru, meet me in my office in an hour."

As soon as Tsunade finished talking, the girl walked off. Not turning around even when she felt Shikamaru look quizzically at her retreating back.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Oh Kami," Layuki muttered, rubbing her temples, "Life hates me, life _really_ hates me."

She had just walked through the doors of the office to find that the Hokage had started talking. As if that wasn't enough, the other people in the room were the last two people she wanted to see. To add to it, what the woman wanted to say wasn't exactly what the young girl needed to hear.

But Tsunade merely looked amused. "Oh? And why does life hate you?"

"I'd like to know that too." Layuki walked up to the woman's desk and slammed her palms on the table. "Hokage-sama, it's not a really good idea to make the three of us into a group. Unless, of course, you want one, or both, of them dead." At this, she made a gesture to Shikamaru and Kiba who were both standing so much like the images her sister had conjured, it made her shiver. "Because I assure you, if you send me anywhere with them, at least one will die. Tell me again why you're sending _us_?"

The Hokage sighed. "Layuki, this is a C-ranked mission that's tethering on the edge of being a B-ranked one. I'm really not supposed to be giving this out to genin, but since the invasion of the sound really hurt the village, most of the chuunins and jounins are on missions and the others need to stay and protect the village. And there needs to be some leaf shinobi sent to Sunagakure to reinstate the alliance as it seems that the sound deceived them as well." She paused for a moment, going through some files. "Both you and Shikamaru were among the few genin that established a sufficient acquaintanceship with the sand genin. Understand?"

"No." She was determined to not go on a mission with these two. "Why Kiba then? I didn't see him interact with them at all. Why not someone else, like Naruto? He's really close to the siblings."

It was silent for a moment as Tsunade flipped through more papers. "Squad 7 is out on a missions with their sensei. Aburame Shino along with Akimichi Chouji and Rutake Kaoru are on missions with their fathers. Yamanaka Ino is to man the family business as both her parents are on missions. Hyuuga Hinata and Neji are needed at their clan households and Tenten is currently teaching weaponry to academy students." Then she moved all her paper to the side. "And of course Rock Lee is in no suitable condition to travel. Also I need at least a group of three to go. Yes there are more genin, though those are the only ones familiar to you, correct?"

Layuki felt her temper begin to boil. Who did this person think she was, acting all high and mighty on her first day of running the village? She took a deep breath and held onto her tongue. "Very well. Do you have anything to add, Hokage-sama?" The woman gave her a long look, and then she spoke.

"Shikamaru is to be the leader of this group, and will handle the transactions when you arrive in Sunagakure. Also, you three pack your bags and be ready to leave tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Here are the documents that need to be signed. That is all, you may leave." Then she raised her hand to dismiss them, but put it down again. When she spoke, she directed her words at the Nara who was pocketing the scrolls. "Also, Shikamaru, you will leave as soon as the documents are signed and when you determine their plans for the future Kazekage. As soon as you return to Konohagakure, all of you are to come back and hand in your report. I also have something for you when you return." Then she paused again. "Do good on this mission, it is of great importance."

All three of them bowed their heads and walked out. As soon as they were at the bottom of the tower Layuki slumped over. "Ugh, I seriously don't understand why she wants to send us. Does she really expect the elders of the sand village to take a bunch of kids seriously? We'll be the laughingstock of the country. Not to mention I'm probably on the hit list of most of the genins who were at the exams."

"Hey Layuki, show some respect to the Hokage will you? It's not everyday we get sent on a mission like this without a jounin coming with us." Kiba grinned at her, showing off his fanged canines. "Besides it could be fun, I don't know about you but I've never been out of the Fire Country."

"Yeah, being attacked by a bunch of angry ninja is really fun." She muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I've been out of the country before, and I'm hoping to go back to the Lightning Country soon." Then she swore. "Damn, she didn't even give me a chance to ask her for my leave! Ah well, I'll have to talk to her when we get back."

Shikamaru looked tiredly at her. "Troublesome. It just shows you should try not to make people mad."

Layuki glared at him. "Kinda hard, considering most of the genin there tried to kill me in the Forest of Death. What was I supposed to do, make them tea?" She stood up straight and walked away into the centre of town. "See you guys tomorrow morning, I'm off."

She walked into an ice cream parlour, seated herself, and ordered the first thing she saw on the menu which happened to be a hot caramel sundae. As she was about to dig into the desert a thought crossed her mind, which made her grin.

_At least I'll be able to see Gaara again. _

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A/N:** I love hot caramel sundaes..they're yummy.  
I'm thinking of giving this fic no more than ten more chapters..  
just saying (:  
Thanks for reading, reviewers get a cookie :D  
**fanny-kun**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N:** hehe...well I lied.  
Gaara's not in this chapter...  
Gomen! Gomen! My apologies.  
I was in an angsty mood when I wrote this and kinda got carried away..  
It's probably really bad because I can't write angst deliberately, but yeah.  
Sorry again, I'll make some more romance in the next chap to make up for this.  
But enjoy Chapter Twenty-seven:D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own. ):

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It was eight o'clock, and there was another hour until she would have to leave for her mission to Suna. Layuki sighed and knocked on the Hokage's door. When no one answered she tentatively opened the door a crack so she could poke her head in. She stifled her laughter at what she saw. With large strides, she walked in the room and slammed her fist on the desk waking up the Hokage with a start. 

"Jeez Tsunade-obaa, sleeping on the job. Do you seriously expect people to follow you if you show them that demeanour?"

The woman glared up at her. "Call me obaa again and I'll personally see to it that you stay a genin forever." Then she looked at the clock that was mounted on the wall. "What are you doing here? And why on earth are you wearing a hat? It doesn't suit you." Layuki frowned and put a defensive hand over the black cap that covered the whole back of her head.

"Well I have something to ask of you, Hokage-sama." Then out of her weapons pouch she produced some scrolls. "As you probably already know, my clan originates in the Lightning Country. Those scrolls have information on a shinobi training camp located in Kumogakure. It's said to be the best in the country, and if not then the best in the continent, and I wish to attend it. I believe it will improve my skills greatly."

Tsunade took the papers and looked over them for a moment. "I think you might've missed one thing on here." She paused waiting for Layuki to answer, when she didn't the woman continued. "This training camp is only for boys, there hasn't been any kunoichi allowed in it for several years."

"I know." Now Layuki moved her hand up to her hat and pulled it off.

Her ebony hair, which used to be long and hang past her waist, now was in a very short and spiky mess. Two strands hung down and on either side of her face to slightly cover her jaw line and long bangs covered her eyes so that they could barely be seen. All in all, it made her look quite masculine.

"I see. Well if you really think this would work," The woman looked at Layuki as she nodded, "then I suppose I can't deny you this chance." She rolled the scrolls up again. "For safety precautions of the village I must have you swear a blood oath before you leave not to reveal any of our secrets. Also for your safety, since you're supposed to be dead, you would need a false ninja identity card and a change of name. Have you decided on one yet?"

Layuki thought for a moment. Then she took the first one that came to mind. "Uhh…Tabashi Shouza."

"Very well, I'll have that ready for you when you return. Do you have an estimation of leaving time?" She asked as she wrote the information down in another scroll.

"I was hoping to leave immediately after I return from the mission, if that's alright with you Hokage-sama."

The woman eyed her. "Immediately after? Do you not wish to say your good-byes to your comrades?"

Layuki smiled. "I don't like good-byes."

"I see. Do you intend to return to the village, and if so in how long?"

"Yes I do, but not until I either get discovered or when I've decided I've learned enough." Then she paused. She stopped the chakra flow in her arm completely and carefully slid her glove off, which she hadn't done since she put it on, and she handed it to the Hokage who took it without a word. "I think it's best that you keep this. I don't want to take it on the mission with me, just in case I lose my temper with the two that you sent me with. Besides, it was my sister's weapon and I'm pretty sure the Fuyaku clan created it. I think that it would be recognised pretty easily if I take it with me to the Cloud."

Tsunade smiled at her. "All right then, I'll keep it safe." She flipped through a file and read it, "There will be a chuunin exam held in Kumogakure after the next one, so in about a year. If the circumstances allow it then I shall see you there. Also, upon your return you will be promoted to whatever rank you acquire while you are in the Cloud Village." Then the Hokage paused, her tone becoming serious. "I'll give you the mission to think this over, if you're really ready to take this gamble. Personally I like that you're doing it but the risks are great. Because you know what will happen to you if you get discovered of being a female." 

Layuki grinned widely, ready to take on the challenge. "I know, Hokage-sama. If I get discovered, then I will die."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The three walked in silence for a while, and Layuki began to feel impatient. She turned around and walked backwards with a pout on her face. "Guys…" She said, making the other two, three counting Akamaru, look at her tiredly. "If we speed this up we can make it to Sunagakure in less than three days."

"Yeah we know that." Shikamaru said. "But it's a waste of energy. If they waited a month to send us then the people in the desert can wait an extra day for us to arrive. It's not that hard, you don't have to be so troublesome."

Layuki groaned and turned around, subconsciously placing her hand over her hat to make sure it was still there. She didn't really want to face the fact that her hair was so short just yet.

Kiba looked at her quizzically, "What's your hurry anyway?"

"One, I want to spend as little time with you two as possible," She glared at him over her shoulder. "And two, I want to see Gaara again. It's really not that hard, Kiba, or is your head really that thick?"

"Your bitchy attitude is starting to get on my nerves."

"Yours has _always_ been on my nerves."

"Do you want to take this outside?"

At this Layuki turned around and spread her arms out. "Where to you think we are, baka?"

Kiba scowled. "You know what I meant."

She smirked at his annoyance. "No I didn't, care to enlighten me?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh? You think you can beat me?"

"Hell yeah I do. I'm pretty positive that I can kick your sorry ass, boy."

Both of them got into fighting positions and Layuki was about to take a lunge at him when she figured out she couldn't move. When she looked over she saw that both Kiba and Akamaru were glued to the spot as well. And then she turned her glare on to Shikamaru.

"Seriously, you guys are such a drag. You," He pointed to Kiba, "don't insult her, it'll just cause problems for both of us. And _you_," He pointed to Layuki, "control your temper. It's going to get you killed some day. Troublesome." Then he released his jutsu and began walking again.

The rest of the day was basically like that: silent except for a little small talk that never lasted long, a few arguments and death threats coming from both Layuki and Kiba, and countless words of 'troublesome' coming from that other person. Soon it was nightfall and the three stopped at a small village to get a three-roomed suite for a surprisingly cheap price in the hotel.

Layuki walked to the window and looked at the crescent moon. "I'm not that tired yet. You guys get some sleep, I'll be back later." Then she hopped on the sill and ran down the wall, chakra focused on her feet. Neither of the boys felt the need to stop her, instead they went into their own rooms and stayed silent.

Outside, Layuki managed to locate a small playground and she walked over to the swings and seated herself down. "I guess I should be training, but I don't feel like it." She said to no one in particular. Then she laughed at herself. "I'm losing it; talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

She jumped off the swing and walked around the quiet little lodging. It seemed so peaceful. Her heart sped up when she saw some bushes rustle and she began to reach for a kunai, but then a small chipmunk jumped at herself. She sighed and pulled her hand back and placed it over her heart. "And being paranoid of everything is the second sign." Then she though she saw a wave of a black and red cloak.

"…And seeing things that you're not supposed to is the third. Maybe I do need some sleep." With that she turned and walked swiftly back to the hotel. When she was in the room she looked at the clock, and it was past midnight. Surprised, Layuki just stood there; she didn't think she should have been outside that long. Shrugging, she made her way to the only unoccupied room.

She lay on the bed on top of the covers with her hands behind her neck and staring up at the ceiling. It was surprisingly peaceful listening to just the snores and breathing of her friends.

_You don't have the guts to get the Mangekyou Hirukagan_.

Layuki scowled, her sister's words had been haunting her all month.

_You don't have what it takes to kill your best friend_.

"Augh!" Layuki growled as she sat up and clutched her head, trying to get the voice out of her head. It hadn't been a problem before to get them to stop, but maybe it was because she was so close to Shikamaru now that it was so difficult to resist. Then she frowned, that couldn't be right. She had stayed in his house for the past month. It must be because they were away from the village; she had a chance to kill him without any punishment.

_The power is beyond imagination_.

"No, shut up." She really thought she was beginning to lose her mind. But her sub-conscience wouldn't shut up.

_It barely takes up chakra_.

This time she actually swung her head against the wall and pain numbed the voice for a moment. But only for a moment.

_It's the ultimate weapon; the power is like a drug_.

The next thing she knew she was walking out her door and quietly opening Shikamaru's. Slowly she went over to his sleeping figure and merely stared for half a second. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Then she quickly grabbed a kunai from her pouch and plunged it into his body.

**

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A/N: OMG!  
Shikamaru!!!  
I bestow you all with a cliffie. :D  
Thanks for reading, Reviews are appreciated. :3  
**fanny-kun**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:** Ah sorry again.  
Gaara's not in the chapter as much as I had originally hoped.  
The beginning took longer then I thought it would..  
but yeah..:D  
I have exams on Monday and Tuesday, but I'll try to update.  
Thanks for reviewing!  
Enjoy chapter twenty-eight (:

**Disclaimer:** Own my OC(s), nothing else..):

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'_Pop_' 

Shikamaru vanished in a puff of smoke as Layuki stared in shock. Shock that he wasn't there, and shock that she even thought of doing such a thing. A shuffling in the other room made her quickly put her weapon away and placed the alarm clock that was on his bedside table on the bed. Then Kiba walked in wearing his pyjamas rubbing his eyes with Akamaru on his head.

"Hey, what's going on? I thought I heard a popping noise." He yawned, revealing his pointed canines.

Layuki looked at him with what she hoped looked like a puzzled expression. "It's Shikamaru. He popped."

"Huh?" He stopped mid-yawn and looked at her as if she belonged in an asylum. "He…popped?"

"Yeah. He went, like, 'pop'" She made her hands open quickly to indicate popping.

"Pop?"

Now she frowned. "Yes pop. How many times to I have to tell you that?"

"Well then. How did he…pop?" The look on his face was as if he wondered whether he was still asleep or not.

Layuki took a deep breath. "Well, I came in his room to get the alarm clock, since I didn't have one in my room. And then I tripped over something and dropped the clock on him. Then he popped." She tried not to make a face as she wondered whether her lie seemed okay or not. It sounded all right to her, but she wasn't used to not telling the truth.

Silence. "So…" Kiba started. "He popped when you dropped the alarm clock on him, that means there only could have been a clone in the bed…" 

"Yes I know that, baka, it's kinda obvious that it was a clone."

He scowled. "I was just saying. So then if it was a clone…then where's Shikamaru?"

Silence again. The Layuki stood up, opened the window and climbed out ignoring Kiba yelling behind her. She gathered chakra to her feet and walked up the building. Sure enough, there was Shikamaru lying on a bench with his arms behind his head and staring up at the sky. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep.

"Hey." Layuki broke the silence in the night. He opened one eye and nodded. "What are you doing up here?"

"Enjoying the silence. It's kinda rare with you two troublesome people around." Then he opened both eyes and looked up at the sky. "Plus there are some clouds in front of the moon."

Layuki sat with her back to him on the edge of the building swinging her legs. "Ah. Anyways, I kinda popped your clone. Why d'you have a clone anyways?"

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Just in case someone came in and noticed I was gone, that would ruin the silence. Then again, you went and killed my buunshin, and that kind of killed the silence too." He sighed. "This is such a drag. Go back to sleep and tell Kiba to stop yelling. We're leaving after breakfast tomorrow."

"Roger that." Without another word Layuki jumped off the roof and landed skilfully on the windowsill. After pushing Kiba out of the room she walked back to her own and changed into her pyjamas, which were a pair of baggy sweatpants and an over-sized tee shirt. Before she lay in bed she took out her kunai once again.

Taking a deep breath she closing her eyes she made a deep cut along the length of her forearm. Clenching her teeth so she wouldn't cry out in pain, she took out her bandages and wrapped the wound, trying not to get blood anywhere. When she was finished dressing the cut she watched as crimson liquid soaked through the alabaster cloth. She whispered a promise to herself that she knew she would keep.

"Whenever I make a foolish mistake, I'll mark it in my own flesh."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki groaned as they stood in front of the Sunagakure gates. There was sand everywhere. Sand in her shoes, sand in her eyes, sand that had managed to get past her cap and into her hair, and sand in her clothes. She was starting to not like sand.

As soon as Shikamaru stated the business, the three of them were lead to the centre of town to the Kazekage building. When they were walking Layuki began to feel giddiness at being so close to Gaara. The warm feeling disappeared, however, when some of the genin spotted her and started yelling at her. They had obviously recognised her from the exams.

Then she realised they were yelling greetings at her. She stopped bewildered and a girl with long brown hair and her hitai-ate around her waist came up and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Meiumi. You might not remember me, but I want to thank you for the great fight you gave my team in the Forest of Death. It really taught us a lot."

"Uhm, hi? Are you sure you've got the right person? Sorry, but I don't remember you at all."

Meiumi looked at her for a moment. "Yeah I know it was you. You have really weird eyes and you're really short."

Layuki felt a vein pop in her head but she ignored it. "Well okay, you're welcome."

"I was also wondering if we could have a rematch sometime? Me against you and maybe my team against yours." The girl smiled sweetly that Layuki just had to smile back.

"Sure why not? My name's Layuki by the way." Then she heard Kiba calling to her. "I've got to go, I'll see you around."

She waved and ran to catch up with the other two. Shikamaru didn't turn around but Kiba looked at her weirdly. "Who was that?"

"No idea." Then she looked around the village. "I wonder. Are we supposed to stay with Shikamaru as he does all the transaction stuff? That's boring and I want to explore."

"Don't be so troublesome." Shikamaru said over his shoulder, "We're not here on vacation. You're too curious, curiosity killed the cat." Then he stopped and waited for them to catch up. When they did he whispered something in her ear. "Don't let your guard down. The alliance isn't certain yet, it all depends on who's running the village right now." Then he sighed. "This is such a drag."

She made a face at him. "Don't use cliché's Shika-chan, they don't suit you. Besides, it wasn't curiosity, stupidity that killed the cat. Doesn't really matter though, it's not like we in a shortage of felines in the world or anything."

After another little bit of walking they reached the Kazekage office. The sand shinobi that was leading them knocked and opened the door. Layuki gaped at what she saw.

Gaara was Kazekage.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The only sound in the village that night was the sound of Layuki's footsteps walking down the street. It was around midnight and she was never asleep at this time. Not in the mood to stay in her room, she had sneaked out and took her chance to explore the village.

After another minute, she grew tired of walking on the ground and jumped up on the roof of the building. Rooftop to rooftop she jumped until she finally caught something of interest.

On the top of a building a fair ways away from the Kazekage tower was a large black circle as if there had once been an explosion here. The ground was tainted with blood and when she looked over the ledge Layuki saw that the building was no longer in use. Walking over she saw that there was an imprint of a body amidst the burned concrete showing that this explosion had happened many years ago. Slowly, she reached out a hand and grabbed onto a rusted shruiken that was stuck to the wall.

"You should be asleep." The voice was so sudden that she jumped and swore as she turned around. Then she calmed down. She knew that voice.

Grinning she replied. "Nah, I'm not tired." Then she bowed her head slightly. "Greetings Kazekage-sama."

Gaara's eyes moved towards her. "Don't call me that. Just Gaara is fine."

"Ah, so you're not yet accustomed to being the head of your village." Layuki turned around and walked to the ledge and sat down, swinging her legs. "Can't say I expected it. But it sure as hell makes my mission a whole lot easier, not that I was supposed to do anything anyways."

Neither of them talked for a moment. And to Layuki's surprise, it wasn't her that broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Here as in Sunagakure, or here as in on top of this building?" When she didn't get an answer she kept talking. "Well I'm in the desert on a mission and I'm on the top of the building because I found it intriguing."

"How it is intriguing?"

She thought for a moment. "It's not every building that's half covered in a scorch mark." Then she paused and scowled. "Since when do you talk this much? It's not like you."

"You don't know me." As soon as the words left his mouth she turned and glared at him.

"No, I don't." She agreed coldly. "But does anyone? Do you even know yourself?" She looked over the village and added quietly, "Have you ever let anyone get the chance to know you?"

He was silent for a moment and she could feel his eyes watching her. "Have you?"

"Don't contradict me!" She stood up, turned and looked directly into his eyes. "If people knew the real me, then I'm pretty positive that I'd be all alone. Just the other night I…" She swore as she stopped herself. It was always hard to control what she was saying while she was around Gaara. Shutting her mouth she was about to sit back down again when she stepped on a loose patch of concrete.

She didn't even have time to swear as she plummeted five stories to the ground.

Layuki prepared herself for the pain for when she made contact with the street, but none came. Instead when she opened her eyes she saw that she was on a pile of sand…that was floating in mid-air. Blinking, she looked bewilderedly at Gaara who was also standing on a floating pile of sand. He looked at her tiredly. "Try not to die, if you did it would make the alliance quite complicated."

She ignored him; "You can make sand fly?" experimentally she stood up and jumped. Nothing happened. "Oh wow, this is so awesome."

"I've always been able to make the sand carry me. It's simple." Then he noticed her arm. "You're bleeding."

Layuki stopped jumping and took a moment to figure out what she was saying. She looked at her arm and sure enough, the bandage was turning bloody. She reached into her weapons pouch for a roll of bandages and swore when she didn't have enough left. Then she felt the sand moving beneath her and she lost her balance. Falling on the sand she swore again. "I'd appreciate it if you tell me when you're going to move."

He reached out and grabbed her arm. Even though his touch was gentle it made her flinch. She hadn't yet forgotten about the numerous times he had tried to kill her. Slowly, he undressed her wound and wrapped it up again with some bandages of his own. "Does it hurt?"

"Not really," She muttered quietly. "I've had way worse."

"How many times have you felt pain?" He tightened the white cloth and she winced slightly.

She thought for a moment, and then gave up. "Too many times to count. I'm always getting hurt." Then she looked up at the starry sky. "Can you take me higher? I've never flown before."

Without a word Gaara made a motion with his hands and both piles of sand rose in the air. Layuki looked off the side as the village below grew smaller and smaller. When she felt the sand stop she stood up and smiled at Gaara.

Then she stepped off the side and felt gravity pulling her back to earth.

**

* * *

A/N:** Suicide? Hm..  
Anyways, I just finished Kakashi Gaiden (it was sad :( )in the manga..  
And when Gaara appears at the end of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc it doesn't say whether he's Kazekage or not.  
Let's pretened he is, kay? ;)  
Also I know that Shikamaru was supposed to be made a Chuunin as soon as Tsunade came into the plot.  
But let's pretend my fic is set in the anime with the filler episodes, Kay?  
And that's all I need to say...  
Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!!  
**fanny-kun**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:** Well this chapter is mainly me playing with the characters.  
Because I was bored :D  
Thanks so much for my reviews, enjoy chapter twenty-nine!  
(wow 29 already...)  
Oh and **_words like this_** is the Shukaku talking :D

**Disclaimer:** Just be glad I don't own Naruto.

* * *

A scream of delight escaped Layuki's mouth as the dove to the desert. Her eyes were closed and she was pretty sure her cap had come off and the wind was blowing through her short hair. But as she expected, she landed lightly on soft sand before she could fall very far. 

"Are you trying to commit suicide?" Gaara's monotone voice drifted in the wind as his sand pile lowered to hers.

Layuki flipped over so she was lying on her back and laughed. "Haha, I wasn't trying to kill myself, I knew you would catch me. But I thought you would let me fall for a bit longer," She frowned when she saw the stoic look on his face. "Oh right, you've never felt the thrill of a near death experience." She giggled again and placed a hand over her erratic heart. "That was so much fun." Then she ran a hand through her hair and looked around. "Hm, I think I lost my hat."

"You shouldn't gamble your life like that. I might not have saved you." Then he sat down on his sand.

She grinned. "Yes you would have. If not because you wanted to, then you would have to save your alliance with the Leaf." She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the sand pile. "And my life is my own to gamble. What's the point of living if you don't take risks?"

"Life's not a game."

Her smile shrunk a little. "No it's not. In life, you don't have to play by the rules." Then her tone turned serious. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you? How many times have you killed? Weren't you kind of playing a game with their lives, taking out other players so you could dominate? That sounds like a game to me."

**_Kill her. _**

"Maybe it was. Their lives were the reason mine existed." He said, trying to push the Shukaku out of his mind.

She turned to glare at him. "There's no reason for anyone to exist, we just do. But no one asks questions. People just go with the flow. So, I wonder, why were you so different? Why did you need to prove your existence?"

**_I know you want her blood. _**

Gaara frowned as he once again ignored the demon. "Because I was alone."

"So you were." She looked away and up at the half-moon. "But everybody's been alone at least sometime. I remember when my onee-chan left I thought I would go insane even if I had other friends." She sighed. "But that's probably not the same thing you went through. She's still alive though, Satsuki-nee, I just saw her a while ago. She's so strong; I want to be like her. I love her so much."

"Love…" He whispered and he touched his heart. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Yeah. Love." Then she looked away and ran a hand through her hair. "Do you know what that is, Sabaku no Gaara?"

He stared at her for a moment then he looked away. "There is no such thing as love. If there is then it's a useless emotion."

Layuki didn't reply to him for some time. Then she muttered quietly, "I can see it in your eyes, Gaara. You can't fool me; you still want to kill me, don't you? Go ahead then, I already know that I can't beat your sand. It was pure luck that I got away those other times." She looked at him and smiled feebly. "I won't even resist. Just kill me, I know you want to."

**_She's given you permission. _**

_Shut up._ He turned his aquamarine eyes on the girl who was looking at him with kind eyes. "I think you should go back now." When Layuki nodded he lowered her sand pile to the ground. Still in the air, he watched her climb off and run back to the building she was staying in with her teammates. Then she closed the door without once looking back.

**_Too bad, kid. You missed your chance. Next time then. _**

_Go away._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Kibaa!" Layuki whined. "I'm tired. The sun is too hot."

Kiba twitched. "Why are you telling me that?"

"Because I can't find Shikamaru, so I have to complain to you!" She threw down her kunai and promptly sat down. Kiba sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Stop complaining. Just because we're not in our village doesn't mean we don't have to train." When Layuki didn't get up he threw a shruiken so it landed only a couple inches away from her. "Get up! We're not finished sparring."

Layuki grudgingly stood up and picked up the throwing star, twirling it on her finger. "Since when are you so responsible? Just a minute ago you were making fun of my hair." The she stopped spinning the weapon. "Sparring with you is boring. Your _Tsuuga_ (**1**)is too slow. It doesn't give me a challenge."

He scowled, annoyed. "It's not our fault, right Akamaru? We can't spin as fast in the sand." The small white puppy barked.

"That's no excuse. If that's all the reason you have then you need more jutsu. If you want to be a proper shinobi you have to adapt in any situation, sand or no sand." Layuki paused for a moment. "Though I agree with you. It slows me down too, kinda."

"If it effects you then don't lecture me. You're being hypocritical" Kiba could feel a vein popping in his forehead.

She smiled and tilted her head to the side innocently. "No I'm not. I never said I _wanted_ to be a proper shinobi. Proper-ness is too boring." Then she threw the shruiken back at him, making the smallest cut in his cheek. For the sun, Kiba had ditched his huge jacket and instead wore a plain tee shirt. "But enough chatting. You're right. Back to sparring then."

"Can we train with you guys?" A giddy voice drifted through the air and Layuki turned to see the girl from yesterday. After a moment's thought she remembered her name was Meiumi. Along with the brunette were two boys that seemed to be her teammates. One was tall with shaggy blonde hair; the other was slightly shorter with hair that was a dark green colour.

Layuki stared at the trio for a moment. Apparently she had fought them before, but no matter how hard she thought she couldn't remember them. Before answering her question she looked to Kiba who shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Great." Meiumi grinned. "How about tag-teams?"

"Nah, We'll go three on three." Kiba said loudly. "Right, Akamaru?" the dog barked.

Shrugging, Layuki walked over to stand by Kiba's side. When she reached him, she muttered so only he could hear, "I'm not too sure about these guys, but there's something about them, especially that girl. I'm pretty sure she _wasn't_ at the exams."

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" He whispered back.

"She told me she was. But they're all trying really hard to hide her thoughts, and it'll take me too long to scan through their memories." It took Kiba a moment to realise that her Hirukagan was activated. "They're weak, you can tell by their chakra signals. If we work as a team then I'm pretty sure we can end it fast and I can figure out why they want to fight us so much."

Kiba shrugged and then both of them noticed that a small crowd had formed around the two teams. "You guys ready? Meiumi shouted from a couple yards away. As soon as she nodded, all three of them disappeared.

"Behind. I'll get them into position, and then you hit them with _Tsuuga_, got it? If that doesn't work, then you take over, I'll follow what you're thinking." With a nod she was gone. Appearing behind the boy with green hair she caught him by surprise and tackled him to the ground. Then the other boy came at her, and she jumped and landed on them. Meiumi was running towards them. "Now Kiba!"

Jumping away two swirling jets came and hit the three. After a large collision two Kiba's stood there grinning. Their smiled were wiped away when their opponents turned out to be sand clones. Before she had a chance to react, she was hit from behind with an amazing force. As she flew through the air she did a flip and landed on her feet next to Kiba.

"Die!" Meiumi's shout echoed through the air. Both Layuki and Kiba turned around to watch her fly through the air with a katana. Both leaf shinobi sighed and stepped to the side as the girl landed in between them.

Kicking the sword out of her hands and then putting a kunai to her neck Layuki said, "If you were aiming to kill, it wasn't smart to shout out what you were doing while we still had time to react. And I do believe you were aiming to kill. Do you mind if I ask why?" Then all of a sudden her two teammates appeared on either side of her holding kunai's with the point's aimed to her head. "You guys are pathetic, you know that?"

Kiba and Akamaru appeared on either side of her as well, and with a punch they made the two boys fly through the air. Meiumi scowled. "I hate the leaf. My brother was killed in the invasion, and as you two are leaf shinobi I swear to kill you."

"When were you made genin?" The brunette girl frowned but didn't answer, making Layuki scowl. "You're wasting our time. Come on Kiba, Akamaru, we need to find Shikamaru." She put her kunai away and walked out of the training field with Kiba.

"You're mean, you know that?" Kiba said as he placed Akamaru, now in dog form, on his head. "I mean the girl only wanted to avenge her brother."

Layuki didn't stop when she spoke. "Maybe I am. But the invasion was their fault not ours. Besides, she was stupid enough to not ask her teammates to do anything. I can tell they're stronger than her. She kinda reminds me of Naruto-kun, though."

"Nah. Naruto's stronger." Then he looked behind them. "She's following us."

She ignored him. Sensing a familiar chakra, she looked up and spotted Gaara looking down at them. Without taking her eyes off him she said, "Let her. She won't do anything with the Kazekage watching." She stared at him for a moment and then tore her gaze away. "Come on Kiba, Akamaru. Let's go."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Looking at the clock beside her bed, Layuki saw it was past midnight. Sighing, she stood up, opened the window and climbed out. As soon as she was on top of the roof she jumped from one building to the next trying to relocate the place she had met Gaara the night before.

As she had hoped, he was there when she finally found the spot. "Do you come here every night, Gaara?"

The redhead didn't reply for a while. "Whenever I can." He stood up straight and looked at her. "You should go, it's not safe for you to be with me."

"I could care less. Like I said, what's life without a few risks?" She walked over and crouched down beside the burned area. With two fingers she traced the outline of the body. "This place obviously means something to you." She said quietly. "Will you tell me? Will you let me try to get to know you?"

There was a slight pause. "You're like him too." Layuki tilted her head to the side curiously. And he said, "Uzumaki Naruto."

She smiled. "Yeah Naruto-kun's great. I think he should be a therapist; his random outbursts affect people quite a bit. He's a goof, but an overall good guy." She laughed. "I still find it hard to believe that the only reason I got out of my depression when my onee-chan left was because he yelled at me to get a hold of myself. That kid is one of a kind."

"He is." Then it was silent between to two for a moment.

"So," Layuki started, "you're not going to tell me, are you?"

He didn't say anything until she began to walk away. "This was the place where I first felt pain." Then he told her. About his uncle, about the village, about everything. When he finished Layuki smiled at him.

"That's some past you've had. Almost make's me sorry for you, but don't worry, I won't give you my pity. I find that wounds take longer to heal when people keep bringing them up." Then she chuckled. "I'm surprised though, I wasn't sure if you were capable of talking that much at once." Then she paused. "I have one more question though. Have you ever smiled?"

The question took Gaara aback, but he didn't let his surprise show on his face.

When he didn't say anything Layuki spoke again. "You should, sometime. And not a smile of mocking-ness, just a genuine one. It'll make you feel better." Then she looked at the moon. "I should get going now, Gaara. Thanks, for everything." With one last look his way she jumped off the building and ran back to the place she was staying.

Watching her back, Gaara felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a small, small smile.

**

* * *

A/N:** Ah, I can't write romance T-T  
It just doesn't work for me..oh well.  
Thanks for reading, reviews are loved!  
Also: (**1**) Tsuuga is Kiba and Akamaru's attack. The swirly one (: 

PS. I have a NejiTen fic, it's my first one with no OCs as main characters.  
Read pwease:3  
Thankies!  
**fanny-kun**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N:** Ah, sorry, kinda short chapter.  
Anyways..we're at the big 3-0!  
I really didn't think I'd have the patience to carry this on so far..:D  
But enjoy chapter Thirty!  
And thanks to all my reviewers.

**Disclaimer:** Just be glad I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Temari let me go!" Layuki struggled in the chair that the older girl had tied her to. Then she turned and glared at Kiba, Shikamaru, and Kankorou who sat on the couch near her. "Guys!" 

The blonde girl laughed. "No way you're leaving. I'm stuck with guys daily, and you're not depriving me of some girl time." Then she frowned. "Why did you cut your hair? It was so nice before." Taking some scissors, she snipped the ends of her short hair, "You look like a boy now."

Layuki turned her glare on her. "That's the point. Temari, let me go right now or I'll…I'll…" She couldn't seem to find a worthy threat.

"You better shut up, kiddo." Kankorou said from the couch. "Temari gets angry really easily, and you're really in no position to threaten her."

Kiba laughed. "Besides Layuki, this is really entertaining." Akamaru barked from the top of his head.

Finally, she had enough. Temari had removed her weapons, and so the only way she could get out of the ropes would break them. Focusing chakra in her arms, she made a small cut in the ropes and they fell to he ground. Without looking back, Layuki walked to the kitchen despite the blonde girl walking after her. When she reached the kitchen, Temari looked at her oddly. "What are you doing?"

"Relieving my stress." She glared at the older girl. "You come in here, I swear I'll burn your fan to ashes." Then she slammed the door shut.

Sighing she looked around the room. She had never been a great cook, but she had managed to survive on her own for the past year. Opening the cupboards, she took out random ingredients she thought she might need. Also taking out a large bowl, she dumped powdered ingredients into it, not really bothering to measure anything.

When she mixed it together, she added an egg from the fridge and half a stick of butter. Pouring in a touch of milk, she mixed everything together so it was doughy and turned the oven on. Finally, she added some chocolate chips and made little blobs of her concoction onto a baking pan. She stuck it into the oven and waited. The process had taken her just over ten minutes.

Soon, a sweet smell wafted through the room and she took her pan out of the oven. As soon as she placed the hot metal plate on the counter, she saw Gaara standing in the corner of the kitchen watching her move with his sea green eyes. Layuki smiled at him. "Ohayou Gaara."

"What are you doing?" His eyes drifted to the food on the plate.

"I'm going to poison your siblings, and Kiba and Shikamaru, they're starting to get on my nerves." She paused for a moment going over what she just said in her head. "Well not really _poison_ them per say, just so they'll shut up and leave me alone." Then she picked apiece off and handed it to him. "Would you like one before I poison them?"

He stared at the thing in her hand. "What is it?"

Layuki gaped at him. "It's a cookie! Are you telling me you've never had a cookie before?" He shook his head and she frowned. Taking out a plate from the cupboard, she placed half about her batch on it and handed it to Gaara. "Eat them."

She went back and got another plate and put the other half dozen pieces on it. Then from her pocket, she took out a small bottle with purple liquid. Opening the cap, she sniffed at it. Seeming satisfied, she took a glass out of the cupboards and filled it half up with water. Then she placed five drops of the liquid into it. Taking an eyedropper from her pocket as well, she filled the tube up and, walking over to the cookies, placed six drops on each cookie except for one, which she left on the edge of the plate.

"Do you like the cookies?" She looked up at Gaara who was nibbling on the biscuit. She couldn't help but smile.

"Yes."

"That's good." She picked up the poisoned plate. "I'm going to give these out now, care to watch? It's not really poison, just a sleeping antidote. The amount I put in will knock them out for a good couple hours." She let out a sly grin. "But the fun will start when they wake up. If you add water to the solution they'll go delusional. They'll act like they're drunk, it's very entertaining."

Gaara wondered how many times she'd done this before.

He followed her silently as she opened the door and walking into the living room where Temari and the boys were sitting. Donning a fake smile, Layuki said happily, "I made cookies for you all!" Then she walked over and placed them on the coffee table. "I hope you like them."

"What the hell?" Kiba stared at the plate suspiciously. "Weren't you really mad earlier? Are you trying to poison us?"

The look of shock was so real on her face that even Gaara almost believed it. She placed an offended hand over her heart. "Do you really think so lowly of me Kiba? I didn't have my weapons pouch, remember? So even if I wanted to, which I didn't, I couldn't have poisoned them. Here, I'll prove it to you," Then she took the one cookie she left un-poisoned and placed it in her mouth. "See, I'm still alive."

Tentatively, all four shinobi grabbed a cookie. After a single bite, they were unconscious.

"Where did you get that toxin?" Gaara had an amused expression on his face.

Layuki grinned. "I nicked it from the Hokage. It's actually a sleeping potion that she was going to give me anyways, because I only sleep for a few hours a night. But Tsunade forgot to give it to me so I took it from her storage." She finished the rest of her cookie. "I'll have to thank her when we go back."

Then it donned her. _They had to go back_. She frowned, she had begun to like Sunagakure, and as soon as she went back to the leaf she would leave again for the Lightning Country. It was silent while she pondered.

"How did you make those cookies?" Gaara's question made Layuki laugh.

"It's simple, I'll leave a recipe with Temari so she can make some when we leave."

"No."

Layuki looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh? I thought you liked the cookies?"

"I do." He was silent for a moment. "Temari can't cook."

She burst out laughing. After a moment, she wiped her eyes, which had started getting watery. "Haha that's great." She chuckled, "Then I'll leave it anyway. Maybe you'll make some, eh?" Then she looked at the clock. "They'll wake up in about four hours, so just before it gets dark. I'm going to enjoy the day while it's quiet," She smiled sweetly at him. "Can you fly me around again? Please? I promise I won't jump this time."

He looked at her for a moment, and she thought he was going to refuse. But before she could say anything the sand enveloped her and the living room vanished before her eyes.

The next thing she knew she was outside of the village on a cliff that overlooked Suna. Quizzically she looked at Gaara, who answered, "I am still not accepted as Kazekage by most. Most people don't know I can make the sand carry me, it would just unnerve them if they did."

"I see." She stood so close to the edge of the cliff that he was almost certain she was planning on jumping again. She didn't. "It's really nice up here, the view is great. We don't have anything like this in Konoha, it's surrounded my trees."

"Hn." Layuki gave a small squeal when she was lifted into the air by the sand. She laughed as it carried her higher and higher. Looking down, she saw that Gaara was still down on the cliffs, and she waved to him happily. After a couple minutes, though, she felt herself being lowered again. He looked at her, his aquamarine eyes as emotionless as usual. "What about you?"

"What about me?" She asked, quizzically.

He stared at her for a moment, unnerving her a bit. "Tell me about your past."

Layuki grinned, delighted that he was curious about her. She told him her story, as he had told her his the night before. But as Gaara listened, he couldn't get the voice of the Shukaku out of his head.

**_Kill her. _**

She finished talking and grinned at him. Her smile faded as the Kazekage grasped his head, apparently in pain. "Gaara?" She asked, timidly. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid of him. When he looked up, his eyes were a pitch black with an amber pupil, they were the demons eyes. She didn't have time to scream as the sand enveloped her and he spoke in a voice that wasn't his own.

"**_Die._**"

**

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A/N:** I've read a lot of fics lately that have Gaara and cookies..so I added that too :D  
And I'm sorry, I've really been into cliffhangers lately, my apologies? 

But I'm not sure on this one..  
Should I kill her off? I do believe it would make a lovely ending..  
Ah but the sequel! So yes, no, maybe?  
Thanks for reading, reviewers get cookies that Gaara made ;)  
**fanny-kun**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N:** This is a long chapter. By my standards.  
And I'm actually proud of it :D  
Also _CrystalHeart27_ kinda gave me an idea for this chapter. Sorry Crystal, but she's not brain dead (:  
Thanks for my reviewers! (Who some of them told me to kill her off :P)  
Enjoy Chapter Thirty one!

**Disclaimer:** Would I be writing a fanfiction if I owned Naruto?

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"_**Sabakukyu –**_ "(**1**)

Layuki closed her eyes preparing for the pain of the Desert Coffin. When none came, she slowly opened one eye to see something that she definitely did not expect.

There Shikamaru stood, holding Gaara down with his _Kagemane Ossan no Justu_ (**2**). Sweat was dripping down the side of his head as he forced they other boy's movements to match his own. Layuki wondered why he was having so much trouble, but then she saw his eyes glazed over from when she drugged him and felt a pang of guilt. Though she was curious as to why he was awake, there were more dire matters on the line.

Silently thanking her friend, she made chakra seep out of her body to make the sad repel away from her. It did, but slowly, and she had only managed to get half her body out before Shikamaru was knocked aside by the sand.

"Shikamaru!" she yelled as he rolled dangerously close to the ledge of the cliff. It was a long way down, long enough for him to fall to his death. She swore when she saw that he wasn't moving. Maybe it wasn't too great of an idea to poison everybody.

But before she could worry about him for too long she saw the sand aiming for her again. As fast as she could she tried to jump away, but the sand caught onto her right calf and foot and it pulled her leg out from under her, making her fall face first to the hard rocky ground.

Swearing and trying to push the sand away from her, or at least trying to not get any other body part caught again, she heard Gaara groan. She looked over to him and saw that he had buried his face in the hand that wasn't held out. His eyes were flashing between the usual aquamarine and the amber of the demon. Realising that he was trying to get back in control of his body, she yelled at him.

"Gaara, please. You're stronger then the demon, please go back to normal." _Please don't kill me_. She added the last part in her head. Right now wasn't the best time to show her fear.

Gaara went silent for a moment and Layuki's face lit up, thinking he was back in control again. Just as she was about to smile he looked up and grinned maliciously at her. His eyes were the Shukaku's.

"_**Sabakukyu**_!"

Even though only part of her leg was trapped in the sand, the pain was unbearable. She was pretty sure it would hurt less if someone had sawed it off using a dull knife. The nerves, bones, muscles and tendons in her limb were being crushed to powder, and the blood had spilled out so much that it her face had gone dreadfully pale. The worst thing about this was that she could feel every bit of it. She felt the sand grind her bones to dust, tearing apart her leg.

When she couldn't take it anymore she opened her mouth and a piercing scream of pain echoed in the distance.

Right when the sound left her mouth the sand flung her away to the same spot that Shikamaru was lying, unmoving. It threw her so hard that her body hit his and he tumbled off the side to a two hundred-metre fall. Knowing that if she was going to die, she might as well save her friend in the process. She pushed herself off the edge and felt gravity pull her down.

The moment she grabbed onto Shikamaru everything went in slow motion.

She had heard stories from her sensei were so much happened in a very short amount of time and she never believed it. He had once told her that when he was falling off a cliff, much like she was now, that he had managed to get a kunai from his weapons pouch and stick it into the rock, saving his life. Layuki'd never believed him; she never thought he would have time to do that.

But now she knew that when you were about to die it seems like time slows down, giving you every opportunity to save yourself.

By the time she checked to see that she had no kunai knives left, they had barely even fallen halfway. She sunk her teeth into her tongue so she could ignore the pain in her leg, at least for a little bit. Then focusing chakra, which she surprisingly had quite a bit of, she concentrated on her left hand, as her right was clutching Shikamaru, she punched into the rock and felt her upper arm snap.

She bit harder into her tongue until she tasted blood. Her punch to the side of the cliff had forced her arm in until just past her elbow. She had stopped, saving Shikamaru's life and her own, for the time being, but the momentum of the fall had caused her arm to break. Not that it mattered; she was prepared to die anyway.

Layuki just hung there for a moment. She had already gotten used to the throbbing pain in both her limbs and they now just felt numb. She swore when she looked downwards, spitting blood out in the process, as she saw that they were still too far up for her to drop Shikamaru safely.

Her shoulder cracked loudly and she felt the bone being pulled out of the socket. She winced, but the only thing that she was worried about was her arm falling off dropping the two dead weights to their deaths.

Before she could give that much thought Gaara flew down beside her on his sand. She closed her eyes and groaned. "Oh, just go away. I'm mad at you right now. Leave me alone until I at least find away to get down. Besides, even you wouldn't attack a defenceless victim, would you? Because, as you can see, I'm _kinda_ in a tough situation right now."

"I'm sorry." He said, barely audible. She opened her eyes and saw that his own were back to normal.

"Yeah you better be." She smiled slightly, "But I'm glad that you're back to normal. Tell the Shukaku that I hate him." She winced as she tried to move. Even sending messages to her brain made the demolished limbs fell like they were going through a food processor. "Not if you don't mind terribly, I would very much appreciate if you can get me out of this rock and into the hospital. Shikamaru too, it feels like he has a couple broken ribs."

She thought he was going to pull her out, but then she watched as the rocky side of the cliff changed into sand, sliding her out painlessly. Another pile of sand caught her before she fell. Gaara didn't look at her not once, as he carried her back to the village she only heard him say two words.

"I'm sorry."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki frowned as she listened to the doctor's reports. Apparently, her leg had already gotten infected and the only way to prevent the bacteria from spreading is an amputation. She spoke up, "You mean an amputation as in cutting it _off_?"

"Yes, I do believe that's what an amputation is." The man replied, frowning at her.

"Uhm, is it possible to like, not do that? I kind of really like my leg when it's attached to me…" She said, looking at her leg that was a bloody mess. Then she turned her gaze to her arm, which was in a plastered cast from her fingers to even past her shoulder. "And what about this chunky thing? How long do I have to keep it on?"

The doctor looked at her sternly, and his almost-glare made her shiver. "That _chunky thing_ will stay on until your arm is healed. And your leg," He paused for a moment then looked at the clipboard. "You haven't told me how you injured yourself anyhow."

"Er," Layuki cast a quick glance to Gaara who was sitting in the chair in the corner watching her with stoic eyes. "I was at the cliffs, training, when I lost my footing and fell off the side. I was at one of the smaller ones, but the fall wasn't really far, but due to my never-ending stream of bad luck I managed to land on my arm." She paused for a breath, "And then this rock fell off the cliff, because the world hates me, and fell and squished my leg. It really hurt. But Kazekage-sama found me and brought be here before I died a very undistinguished death." She added in a good word for him, but after she said it she wondered why.

Chouten, which was the name that was on the doctor's nametag that Layuki just noticed, looked at her oddly. "I don't think that qualifies as an undistinguished death, something like that would have been very out of the ordinary." He shook his head and she wondered if he'd ever had a patient in Suna that was quite like her. "Since your leg was squished by a rock, as you say, and it's already infected, will probably have to be amputated.

"But, there is a possibility," He poked it with his gloved hand, and she scowled in pain. "There is the possibility that we could skin it and replace your bones somehow. Your muscles will need time to heal on their own, I'm saying about another six months at least until you can resume your career as a kunoichi. Even then you would have to be careful."

"No way." She said. "There is no way in hell that I'm waiting a bloody half a year." She sent a glare in Gaara's direction then she turned back to the doctor. "There has to be something else. What about Tsunade-sama? Do you think she'll be able to do something?"

The doctor looked at her, surprised. "The Slug Mistress? Well possibly, since there is no better medic out there, but she's the Hokage, isn't she? It would be difficult for her to leave the village."

Layuki thought for a moment. "Then I'll go to here. I can live with the pain for three more days. And if I can't then I'll chop it off myself. It's just a leg, isn't it?"

"That's rather risky. There's no town between here and Konohagakure with a hospital that can treat an injury like this. The, er, rock, really crushed your bones finely."

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. Tsunade-sama can heal anything, and if it really gets too much I'll just kill myself. Plunging a kunai through my heart can't be too hard."

"Probably not, but I'm not going to let you kill yourself." The door opened and Kiba walked in, with a scowl on his face. "Because I'm going to murder you."

She smiled at the doctor. "There see? He's willing to kill me."

"More then willing. My head freaking hurts like hell, I have absolutely no idea what you put in those cookies, but I was delusional when I woke up." She glared at her. "Do you know what your drug made me do? I kissed – "

"Shut up. Don't be so troublesome, you're in a hospital." Shikamaru walked in as well, he looked like he had trouble moving his body, but other then that there were no visible injuries.

Layuki scowled. "Damn it Shikamaru! You came in at the wrong time! Kiba was just about to tell me what happened." She turned to Kiba, eyes wide and curious. "Who? Who did you kiss? Temari? A maid? Someone? Give me a name Damn it!"

His face suddenly turned a bright scarlet and he looked away. Obviously, he had said more then he had planned. "Never mind, forget I said anything."

"Who said he kissed a girl?" Temari walked in, cutting off Layuki's shout. She looked at her eyes wide and the blonde smirked. "That's right, you didn't hear wrong. I should have gotten it on picture, total Kodak moment." Her smirk turned into an evil grin. "My brother was just as drugged as he was, they looked like they enjoyed it too. I'm pretty sure I saw some tongue action."

"Oh. My. God." Layuki put a hand over her mouth and looked, shocked, at Kiba who was a bright red in both anger and embarrassment. She pointed a finger at him. "Oh Kami! I should have been there; your first kiss and you lost it to a guy? In a make-out session with Kankorou nonetheless. Ohmigod! Just wait till everyone back home hears about this!" She threw back her head and laughed.

Kiba turned to her, his face the colour similar to a fire engine. "You tell anyone, then I swear I will murder you. Seriously, I can't believe I ever liked you."

"Huh? You don't like me anymore? That's a shame; I can't tease you about it anymore. Oh well. Still, I can't believe you lost your first kiss to a guy!" She laughed harder, despite the pain to her injuries.

"I never said it was my first kiss!" His face, if possible, was getting redder.

She stopped laughing and looked at him quizzically. "Come again? Who was your first kiss then, Akamaru?" Then she turned to the small dog sitting on the floor. "Sorry, boy, I don't mean to offend you."

"None of your business."

Before a full-fledged argument could continue, Chouten, who was listening in with a rather amused expression shooed everyone out. "I have something to tell my patient. Kazekage-sama, I think it would be best if you leave too."

As Gaara got up to leave, Layuki said, "No. He should say. He deserves to know whatever you tell me." Then she paused and looked at the people who were headed out the door. "And Shikamaru too. He stays."

"Troublesome." The said boy said, but he still walked over to another unoccupied chair.

The doctor sighed. "Very well. Your x-rays came in just when you were having your little reunion." He held up a brown envelope. "I think it's best that you take a look at it. Your leg especially."

Layuki took the envelope and tried to open it with one hand. Unsuccessful, Shikamaru took it. Before he handed it to her he stared at it in disbelief. "Is this accurate?"

"Unfortunately yes. That's what her leg looks like."

"Hey let me see! I want to see." She made a grab for the papers, but he handed them to Gaara who took a look at them, showing no emotion, but she could see a trace of shock in her eyes. She was starting to get angry. "What is it? Let me see!"

Releculantly Shikamaru handed the envelope to her. "Troublesome, but I'm not really sure you'd want to." She ignored him and stared at the x-ray of her leg. Shock and frustration was spread across her face.

"No fucking way…"

**

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**A/N:** Sorry, another cliffie, you just must be sick of them by now (:

(**1**): Sabakukyu is Gaara's desert coffin.  
(**2**): Kagemane Ossan no Justu is Shikamaru's shadow possetion thingy.

As to why Shikamaru's awake in this chapter...  
Well he's Shikamaru. That's reason enough.

But alas, this fic is coming to an end! Only a few more chapters, what will happen, what will she do? -dramatic pose-  
Anyways, I read it over last night, yes I have no life, and I saw that there wasn't really any romance in it.  
Sorry, I think it's kinda hard to write romance with 13-year-olds...but still.  
Anyways thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated:D  
**fanny-kun**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:** Ah, an update, I'm proud (:  
Thanks to my reviewers!  
I'm thinking of ending this in two chapters or so. Nothing past 35.  
Just saying.  
Enjoy chapter thirty-two :D

**Disclaimer:** Do you think I own?

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When you have an x-ray taken and you look at it you should see a black and white picture with an outline of your limb and the bones. That's all, it's pretty simple.

Layuki's leg looked nothing like that.

There was an outline of her limb, yes, but no bones. Well, no bone _shaped_ bones. The x-ray looked exactly as how her leg had felt when Gaara crushed it. What was left of her bones was powder, if you looked closely you could even see the separate dots.

Frowning, she stared at it for a while longer. "So this is it, huh?"

"I'm sorry." Chouten flipped through the papers on his clipboard. "The main problem is that about a quarter your femur, which is your thigh bone, was also crushed. This is a case I've never gotten before, and it seems rather unlikely that all this is because of a rock." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah well let's pretend it was, kay? There are things that I can't reveal to you upon my word as a shinobi." At this Gaara looked at her curiously. He never asked for her word and she'd never given it. Layuki's frown grew. "Isn't the thigh bone supposed to be the hardest bone in your body? This is a touch problematic, isn't it?"

The doctor sighed. "Very well. Since you gave your word as a shinobi then I will not ask you to break it." He flipped through some more papers. "So the only course for action we currently have is an amputation." He sighed. "If you were a citizen of Sunagakure then we would be able to perform experiments and tests. But you are not, and it'll be illegal for us to do so even if you give us your consent."

She thought for a moment, running a hand through her hair. She still wasn't used to its shortness. "What about if I go home then? Tsunade-sama can figure something out."

Chouten looked at her as if she weren't sane. "Unfortunately, it takes three days to get there. By then, the infection could possibly have turned fatal. Unless you have a ways to get back to the Leaf within twenty-four hours then I'm afraid tha – "

"I do." Layuki cut the doctor off mid-sentence. "I do have a way. It's a jutsu that I've been working on in the last month."

"You have a new jutsu? I never knew that, that's troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

She ignored him. "I have a jutsu that can get me home in a couple hours, tops."

"I hope you know that your right leg is a little useless. If your jutsu is one that increased your jutsu for you to run faster, then I'm afraid that will be quite unhelpful." The doctor still regarded her wearily.

A scowl made its way across her features. "I know that. I might not be a genius like Shikamaru, but I'm not completely dense either." Then she suddenly grinned. "My jutsu's a _kuchiyose_."(**1**)

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Layuki and her teammates sat at the gates of Sunagakure their bags were packed and they were ready to return to the leaf. Her leg was bandaged up so she wouldn't lose any excess blood. The only thing they were waiting for was the Kazekage.

"Are you sure you can do the summoning jutsu?" Kiba had asked that question several times and it was beginning to get on he nerves.

"Are you sure you don't want me to kill you? Because I will if you keep asking me that. _Yes_ I know how to do the summoning jutsu, that's not the problem. The only thing I'm worried about is trying to convince them to fly us all the way back home. They might be too prideful to carry us." She ran a hand through her hair as she looked down the busy street hoping to catch a glimpse of Gaara's blood red hair.

Shikamaru sighed. "It'll be troublesome if they don't listen to you. Are you really not going to tell us what you can summon?"

"Nope, not telling. It's actually not something that I can explain." She tilted her head and recognised the redhead coming towards them. Wanting to talk with Gaara without her team, she took her crutches and half hopped her way to her, ignoring Kiba yelling behind her. She smiled sweetly when she reached him. "Ohayou Gaara"

She got no answer. He merely looked at her and handed her a box. Curiously, she opened it and a caught a whiff of cookies. She beamed up at him, making him look away.

"This is so sweet, it almost makes me forget to threaten you." At this he fixed his sea green eyes on her and raised a non-existent eyebrow. Her smile slowly turned into a small, menacing smirk. "You owe me. I'm the reason you're still Kazekage. All I want for my reward is a promise that you'll never try to kill me again. It's really kind of a pain."

After a moments hesitation he shook her outstretched hand, making her grin again. "Great now that that's over with, did you make these?" She gestured to the box. Taking one out, she was about to take a bite, then stopped. "They're not poisoned, are they?"

For the first time, she saw him smile. It just made her smile even more. She took a bite and savoured it. "Mmm, delicious. I bet you're a better cook than Temari." For the first time she took a look at the papers in his hand. "Those are the reports for Tsunade-sama securing the alliance, right?"

"Yes. These are what you're waiting for. I'll give these to your leader and see you off." He started walking and she began to hobble behind him. He stopped and looked around, then the next thing Layuki felt was herself being lifted off the ground. Suppressing a small yelp, she realised that she was flying on the sand.

Grinning again, she said, "Thanks." He nodded and continued walking, making her float along side him. When they reached where Kiba and Shikamaru were sitting, she hopped off, landing on her good leg, and struggled to make her way outside the gates.

She managed to get herself outside with no trouble, even though it wasn't a short way past the wall, and sat down in the sand, panting. Layuki swore. It took so much effort for her to even walk a couple metres. Before she could ponder on the thought any longer the three boys joined her. She grinned, "You guys ready to see if it'll work?"

They nodded and she pulled out a scroll from her weapons pouch. Slowly, she stood up, using the concrete wall as support and bit her thumb, drawing blood.

She then opened the scroll and slid her thumb along the length of it, making a trail of crimson. After throwing the scroll on the ground, she did a hand seal "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

There was a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a majestic creature stood proudly where the scroll was a moment ago. The front part of it was that of a giant red eagle, and the back part was of a large lion. Layuki bowed as well as she could and addressed the gryffon.(**2**) "Greetings Torano-dono."

Before anything else could be said, Kiba was at her side whispering in her ear. "What is it? I've never seen anything like it before."

The gryffon turned its amber eyes to Kiba, making the boy gulped and backed away. It opened its rouge wings then settled them again. When it spoke its voice was deep and it had an air of power "You haven't seen much, young one."

"Torano-dono is a gryffon. Gryffons are of the most majestic animals left on this earth, and they're very prideful. Insult them and you'll pay for it." While she was talking she never looked away from the brilliant golden eyes. "Torano-dono, how many people can you carry?"

"No more than two, Hachishou.(**3**) If you all wish for a ride, you must summon again."

"Hachishou?" Shikamaru said, inquiringly.

The red head swerved to face the boy who held his ground unlike Kiba before him. "That is what we call this girl. She is the eighth one able to make us obey. We do not listen to those who are unworthy."

Kiba scoffed. "_She's _worthy? I think you've got the wrong girl." This statement caused him to be hit in the shin by one of Layuki's crutches.

"If you must know, the first time I summoned one I summoned a little baby one along with it's mother. Can't say they liked me. The mother attacked me and the little one ran into the forest for a reason I still don't know. I saved it from a wolf, earning their respect." She glanced over at Kiba's shocked expression. "What do you think I've been doing since the exams? Believe it or not, I _did_ train."

When no one replied she picked up the scroll from the ground and performed her summoning ritual again. This time a blue gryffon appeared. It galloped over to her and rubbed its beak against Layuki's cheek. "It's been a long time, Hachishou-chan."

She patted the blue head and smiled. "Hello Yumito-dono. I have a favour to ask of you and Torano-dono."

"What is it, child?" Torano was obviously the elder of the two gryffons.

"Would it be possible for you two to fly the three of us home? I'm currently unable to travel."

Neither of the two creatures responded. And after a few minutes Torano lowered his head in a small bow. "Very well, young one. When do we depart?"

"Right now." Shikamaru stood up and raised a tentative hand to stroke Torano's brilliant red feathers. "This is the first I've seen of your kind. It's an honour to meet you."

Yumito walked over and nudged Shikamaru's shoulder. Layuki turned to Kiba who was still eyeing the animals wearily. "Go do what Shikamaru's doing. It's better if they're familiar with you. Don't be scared, they won't hurt you with me around."

"I'm not scared." He said and quietly moved forwards to pat the blue one's head. She made an excited sound close to a horse's whiney and nudged his cheek, almost knocking him over. Akamaru barked happily from the ground. It wasn't until then that she noticed Gaara standing next to her.

He looked down, "You've improved."

"Not really." She admitted, "It was luck. The scroll was a gift of gratitude from a monk Kaoru-kun and me met on a mission. It took me a hell of a time to summon anything, and a hell of a lot of chakra to add to that. But it was totally worth it, they're supposed to be really good in battle too, but I haven't tried fighting with them yet. They could probably crush me though."

Apparently the greetings were over and Torano lifted his head, amber eyes full of wisdom staring at Layuki. "It's time to go, Hachishou."

"That it is." She turned to Gaara and smiled. "Well, I guess this is good-bye. I probably won't see you for a couple years, but I'll never forget you, you're my precious person." She didn't realise what she said until the words came out of her mouth. Still, she didn't take them back. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on his cheek. "Until next time."

He spoke as she turned to leave. "Thank you, Layuki, for everything."

Layuki stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, surprised. That was the first time he had addressed her by her name. With a quick look behind she saw that the other four were still occupied. Quickly, she hopped over on her foot and wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug. "I love you."

After a moment she let go and smiled. Turning away the last words heard from him were "Thank you so much, Layuki."

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**A/N:** There, no more cliffies (:

(**1**): Kuchiyose is the summoning justsu.  
(**2**): I doubt there's anyone who doesn't know what a gryffon is, google it if you don't.  
(**3**): Hachishou is 'eighth'.

I didn't like this chapter too much. I think I'm adding in too much stuff at the end.  
I might change the genre, because I think this fic is more angst than romance. Oh well.  
Thanks for reading! Reviewers get more of Gaara's cookies ;)  
**fanny-kun**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N:** Sorry! It's been a while since I updated..  
The end is near T-T  
That' so sad.  
I'm still trying to find a suitable way to end this..so forgive me if I take a while to update again.  
Anyways thanks for reviewing!  
Enjoy chapter thirty-three :D

**Disclaimer:** Do you think I own?

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"Damn it Kiba, stop shaking. If you're scared of heights just say so." Layuki had her right hand, her good hand, gripping the boy's shoulder tightly so she wouldn't fall off. Yumito, the smaller of the two animals, was only able to carry one person. And she had taken a liking to Shikamaru. 

Which made the other two ride one the other gryffon. Turned out Kiba didn't very much like to be off the ground. Though his pride was much too large to admit that. He turned around as much as he dared and glared at her. "I'm not scared. I'm…worried about Akamaru. Worried that Shikamaru's gonna drop him." The small dog had ended up riding with the other boy for certain reasons.

"Hachishou, we are nearing your village. Where would you like us to land?" Torano's voice was still loud and clear, despite the wind at the speed and altitude they were at.

Layuki had to speak louder though. "At the village gates would be perfect Torano-dono. Thanks again for doing this!" The end of her sentence was cut off when the animal went into a deep dive, its wings folded tightly at its side. While she let out a whoop of delight, she almost laughed at Kiba as he held on tightly around Torano's neck, his eyes squeezed shut.

Before long they felt a small 'thud' and they were on ground again. As Layuki hopped off, landing on her good foot, there were several shouts of surprise coming from the guard tower. When Kiba and Shikamaru were off the gryffons as well, Layuki did a small bow.

"Thank you Torano-dono, Yumito-dono."

The red one touched his beak to her cheek. "Not a problem, young one. Call on us again when you must."

She grinned. "Count on it being soon. As soon as my leg and arm are good again then I'm going to test your skills."

"Very well, Hachishou. Until then."

"Until then" Then after performing a hand seal she watched as the two animals vanished in a puff of smoke. As soon as they were gone, she felt herself half-collapse. She didn't expect someone to catch her. And she _really_ didn't expect who caught her to catch her.

Kaoru looked down at her as he steadied her on her feet, or foot. He was frowning. "Didn't I ask you to at least _try_ to not get yourself killed? And here you come back half-dead, as usual."

"I'm not half dead. More like one third." She smiled as best as she could and held onto his arm for support. "Could you help me to the hospital?"

He nodded and bent his head so she could reach over to put her good arm around his shoulders. Slowly, he helped her hobble over to the village hospital. For once luck was on her side. As soon as they entered Tsunade was standing out front. The woman turned and looked at her shocked.

"What on earth did you do? I didn't send you on a dangerous mission or anything." Then after a moment she chuckled. "This is rather ironic. Weren't you the one threatening to kill your teammates? They're alright, right?"

Layuki scowled. "Sending _me_ on a mission was dangerous enough in itself. But we got the alliance good, so it's all okay." She didn't mention the part of Gaara being Kazekage, just in case he didn't want her to.

"Well that's good." Then she nodded to Kaoru. "Follow me, I'll take a look at her." Then with a 'swish' they Hokage was headed up the stairs. They followed her to a room and Kaoru helped her get on the bed. After a quick examination of her leg the Hokage turned to the boy, "I think it would be best if you left." Getting the gist of the conversation he left and closed the door.

Then Tsunade looked at her like a mother wanting to scold a child. Layuki smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you what happened. Actually, more like I won't tell you. I'm sorry."

"Very well then. But you do know what's wrong with you, right?"

"I know well enough. The doctor in Sunagakure made it quite clear that the best way would be an amputation?" Then she frowned. "I _don't_ have to get an amputation, right? Because that would kinda suck."

The door opened behind her and Shizune walked in. "I heard what happened, Lady Tsunade. It's all around the village?"

"Seriously? Damn, I was only outside for a couple minutes." Layuki sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, a habit that she had started to develop. "Oh well. Just tell me one thing, I'll live, won't I?" When Tsunade didn't answer she gaped. "No. I refuse to die."

The Hokage sighed as well. "Death isn't something you can refuse."

"Orochimaru refused it." Layuki knew it was a low blow, a very low blow. But it came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Tsunade glared at her. If looks could kill, Layuki would be twitching on the floor. "Don't say anything about Orochimaru. I can tell you know more than you're supposed to. And I have to make you tell me what you do know."

The young girl took a breath. "Well he was a former shinobi of the leaf, in line for Hokage in fact. Then he betrayed everyone and ran off to the Akatsuki, which he left as well. Then last month he let an attack on the village and assassinated the Sandaime. Now his body is messed up and he needs a new vessel and he wants to use Sasuke. That's basically all I know." Then she though for a moment. "Assassinated…how important does a person have to be to be considered assassinated instead of just murdered?"

Her question was ignored. Then the woman bent over and placed her hands on Layuki's leg, they were glowing with healing chakra. After a couple minutes she stood up and wiped her brow. "I just linked your nerves back together. Right now, all we can to is replace your bone, that is, if you don't want it amputated. Trust me it'll hurt."

Layuki didn't reply. "You know, there's a member of the Akatsuki that can sew peoples limbs back on. Can you do that?"

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched and she wondered if the little girl was mocking her. "Well good luck finding him. But I'm afraid I can't do that. You'll have to live with the operation."

"What will you do?"

"The only option there is is to scrape your powdered bones off and replace it with a light metal." When she saw the look on her face she added, "Don't worry, it's light. So you can still use your speed. It may even be lighter than your current bone."

"I don't care about the mass. You mean _scrape_ the bones away. As on, touching the inside of my leg scrape?"

Shizune popped into the conversation. "Don't worry, the pain won't be too much. We can make you unconscious if you want, so you don't have to feel anything."

Layuki looked at her as if she were insane. "I don't care about the bloody pain either." There was a glimmer in her eyes as she turned to Tsunade. "Can I watch?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As soon as the operation started Layuki regretted staying conscious. Her mouth was full of blood by the time all her bones were out because she had bit her tongue so hard to avoid crying out. Even with the numbing antidote she got, it still hurt like hell.

But she had to admit, it was quite amazing. Tsunade had performed a jutsu to cut off the circulation so there would be no gushing blood. And the inside of her leg was so gory it was awesome. She could watch her muscles working overtime, and watch them scream in pain as her powdered bones were scraped away. She could watch her kneecap twitch when the bones connected to it were pulled off, and she could watch her tissues protecting the end of her femur, which hadn't been crushed. She could watch the tendons in her foot pulse as they too were taken away.

Her fascination almost rid her of her pain.

And if she thought that taking the bones out were painful, it was nothing compared to putting the metal in.

The bone-shaped pieces of metal, she didn't understand what the Hokage had said when she told her what it was but it was a really big word, were connected to her femur first, and they had melted the metal to keep the shape of her bones. She closed her eyes in pain when they fake bones snapped together. And when the itty-bitty bones were replaced in her foot she almost felt the pain knock her unconscious.

But those two things combined couldn't measure up to sealing her leg up.

When Tsunade closed the skin up with healing chakra, Layuki felt her nerves flinch away from the unfamiliar-ness of the makeshift bones. But they were forced to attach and the pain was enough to make her scream.

After the scream left her system she fell back, feeling faint, and panting. Then she felt the jutsu being removed and the blood flowing back through her veins, cooling off the burning pain.

"Done. See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Tsunade clapped her hands together.

Layuki scowled. "Nope. Only a couple hours of incredible pain, nothing bad at all."

"It was you who decided to stay awake."

She had no reply to that. Only, "Can I walk?"

The answer came hesitantly. "Yes, but it'll be – " Layuki had already stood up and as soon as she out weight on her leg it bent in agony. "– Very painful."

Through clenched teeth, she forced her leg straight and walked to the door, the muscles screaming every step. "I'll live. If I don't get used to the pain now, I'll have to do it sometime." It wasn't until she reached the door that she realised her left arm was unbandaged. She flexed and felt no pain. She looked quizzically behind to the Hokage.

"You didn't even notice when Shizune patched that up. It was no problem compared to your leg." Then she felt the woman pulling her back to the bed. "You're staying here tonight. And don't try to escape this time, you're on the highest floor and your leg currently can't handle a sixty foot fall, so try to stay alive over the night."

Grumbling, Layuki made her way to bed and noticed the clock said it was two in the morning. She suddenly felt gratitude that the Hokage would so this for so long just for her. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

The woman nodded. "I'll make you a cream and give it to you in the morning, it'll help against the small chance of infection. You'll be able to start training again the day after at the latest. And you can leave any time you wish after that. Good night Layuki." Then she walked out, turning the lights off as she did.

Layuki lay back in the bed and stared at the ceiling. She must have drifted off the sleep because the next thing she knew where voices beside her bed.

**

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**A/N:** Ah, her leg is fixed. How predictable was that:P  
And I manage to make it all fit into one chapter too. I am just absolutely amazing. :D  
Yes I do have a huge ego.  
Anyways, would this count as a cliffie? Let's call it a semi-cliffie because I think it's pretty obvious..  
Thanks for reading!  
Reviewers get cookies :D  
**fanny-kun**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:** Ah, the final chapter.  
But there will be an epilogue (:  
It's not great, in fact I think it's kinda bad, but yeah.  
And there will be a sequel eventually :D  
Thanks to my reviewers!

**Disclaimer:** I own only when I'm dreaming.

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Layuki groaned and moved so her head was stuffed under the pillow. "Shut up Ino, you're so loud." It actually went silent. 

But not for long, Ino was never quiet for very long. "Layuuuki-chan!!! Guess what?" The blonde girl started pulling on her pillow and tried to yank of off her.

"Honestly, Ino._ I don't care_. I'm tired, my leg hurts, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'm in a bad mood right now. Let me sleep and you can yell at me in a couple hours, kay?" She had unsuccessfully managed to sound angry, mainly because her voice was muffled by the pillow which, with one final heave, Ino just managed to rip in two. And now Layuki started to sneeze as the little white feathers brushed her nose. When she turned to glare at Ino, she saw someone else instead and gaped. "Shikamaru? A chounin? Wow that's like…almost respectable."

He glared at her with no specific emotion other than boredom, which probably qualifies as a specific emotion. "Don't make such a big deal of it, it's too troublesome."

"How do you manage to make that word pop up in every sentence you say?" Layuki thought for a moment. "Anyways, who else was made a chuunin? If you tell me Neji was then I'm going to go and kill that heartless bastard." She still hated him, and he probably hated her to. It was a line of hate.

Ino grinned somewhat maliciously "Shikamaru was the only one? Isn't that great?"

Layuki was speechless for a moment, but not for long. "What?! How? Why him? He's probably too lazy to do anything." Then she thought for a moment. "Didn't I beat you in the exams?"

"I recall that I was the one that quit." He sighed and stood up. "This is troublesome, I'm leaving." And being a man true to his word he was out of the room in a matter of two seconds.

"So," Ino started and the other girl looked over at her wearily. "How's your leg?"

She merely stared at her for a second. "Fine. I feel lopsided though." With that she flung the covers off of her and walked, slowly so she wouldn't fall, over to the counter where her clothes were.

"How do you do that?" Ino's voice was agitated for some unknown reason as Layuki shamelessly took her hospital clothes off and dressed in her usual outfit.

After throwing her shorts on and turned to Ino as she took bandages out of her weapons pouch and wrapped it over the ones that were already around her chest. "Do what? I'm not doing anything."

"Stay so thin? You eat so much." It was true, Layuki was a pig and proud of it. She looked up from her work and grinned.

"Blame the metabolism. It sucks, it'd be nice to get some meat on these bones, but I guess that would look kind of weird, being as short as I am." She finished that and threw on her grey shirt.

Ino watched as she sat down to pull her shoes on. "You're lucky. These diets suck."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Then stop going on diets Ino. You look great. Besides, if you're still swooning over Sasuke-san then you'd better get your mind out of the gutter. That kid's messed in the head." Layuki frowned as she noticed that the scar she had made on her left arm had vanished. Probably from when Shizune had healed her. When she looked at her right leg again she frowned even more when she noticed that long scar that ran from above her knee to her foot.

"That's one hell of a scar Layuki."

"Way to state the obvious." She took out her bandages again and wrapped them around her leg so she would have to see the long pale line. When she had finished she stood up and walked out. "Come on Ino. I'm hungry and since I just got out I'll let you treat me to some ramen."

The blonde huffed. "I'm not buying you anything." And as soon as they were out of the hospital Ino walked the opposite way from Layuki, making her sigh.

As she began to walk she remembered that she had forgotten her weapons pouch and shruiken holster. She sighed as she turned on her heel and walked up the numerous flights of stairs to get to her room. She walked in the room and grabbed the beige pocket and secured it on to her shorts. Then she grabbed her holster and wrapped it around her left knee, as she had grown accustomed to using weaponry with her left hand.

When she walked out of her room she was roughly pushed into the wall by none other than Uchiha Sasuke, who was also followed by Naruto. Layuki was about to yell at them when Sakura ran past her, following the two boys. Now genuinely curious, the shorter girl abruptly shut her mouth a followed the three members of squad 7.

Due to her slow-ness, which she was definitely need to work on, when she reached the roof Layuki saw the pinkette staring worriedly at the two boys who were saying something about the equality of wearing a hitai-ate.

She turned to the other girl. "What's up with them? Didn't you guys just get back from a mission?"

Sakura apparently couldn't find her voice and merely nodded while letting out a small croak that could barely pass as an 'uh-huh.' Sighing, Layuki knew she wouldn't get any information out of her; she jumped up onto the roof and sat with her legs dangling over the ledge and watched Naruto and Sasuke fight.

If she did say so herself, it was rather entertaining. The two of them and ended spectacularly with attacks that could have killed each other, despite the fact that they were friends and comrades. But Layuki decided it was time to leave when Kakashi arrived. It would be kind to leave the squad to deal with itself.

First, she made her way to the Hokage's tower to pick up her fake ID and her healing ointment from Tsunade.

Then, unconscious of where she had been going, Layuki found herself in a clearing surrounded densely by trees. After a moment she took notice that in the middle of the clearing was the monument for shinobi who had died in battle. Cautiously, she walked over to it.

She brought her finger up to the names that were most recently added. Reading each name, she traced the ones that belonged to ninja who had died in the invasion of the sound. Her hand stopped at Karin's name. She smiled sadly.

"I'm leaving soon, so you'll have to take care of your brother." She turned and walked away, this time making her way around the village to scope around. Today was her last day for a while.

And luckily enough, she saw no one she knew very well on her walk. Layuki hated saying good-bye, and she was never really good at it too.

All too soon it was sunset. She made her way to Shikamaru's place and slung the bag she had gotten ready earlier over her shoulder. Then after scribbling a thank you not, she placed it on the bed and jumped out of the window.

She had hoped to be able to get out of the village without interference, but she doesn't usually get what she wants. Just as she was on the path out of the village, she heard footsteps behind her. Thinking it was someone like Shikamaru, she turned around to yell at him to go away. But different words left her mouth when she saw who it actually was.

"Sasuke? Where do you think you're going? This is the only path out of the village you know." She had stopped walking in the middle of the path making him stop as well.

He looked at her coldly. "You shouldn't be talking. I see that you're leaving too."

"Yeah." Layuki jerked her thumb at herself. "I have consent from the Hokage, and, no offence, but I seriously doubt that you do." Before she could say anymore he pushed past her rather rudely.

"Get out of my way."

She sneered behind his back. "You're going to him aren't you? Orochimaru? Well let me say that you're more retarded than you look, and that's saying something." She ran a hand through her hair and started walking as well, noticing that he had stopped. "You know, there are better ways for power."

Sasuke had suddenly appeared in front of her with a scowling face. "You don't understand anything. Itachi let me live so I could kill him, I detest him and I need my revenge. Staying in this village will only hold me back."

Layuki managed to suppress the urge to slap him. "You don't have to give me your whole 'revenge' speech because out of the whole village my past and yours are the most alike. So alike, for that matter, it's kind of creepy. But you don't see me running off to some crazy snake freak."

"Then where are you running off to then?"

"I'm not running anywhere. I'm going to the Lightning Country to train." She let out a glare before pushed past him.

But he stood his ground in front of her. "And I'm going to the Sound Country to train, what's your point."

A groan of annoyance escaped her lips. "My point is that…" She had no clue what to say. "You know what, do whatever you want. You're going to get yourself killed in the long run."

Just as she finally managed to push past him, she felt a hand squeezing her neck cutting off her circulation. She felt her legs dangling in the air, she really hated being short. "I will not get myself killed. To prove that, next time I see you, I'll kill you." When she looked into his eyes, Sasuke's Sharingan was activated.

Feeling the need to compete, she activated her Hirukagan and locked her iris-less eyes to his crimson ones. "I'd like to see you try." She made a movement to kick him in his manhood, but a voice stopped her. Sasuke had obviously heard this voice too and had dropped her to the ground.

Layuki turned around to see Sakura running towards them and she turned her back on the two teammates and walked away.

When she was out of the village gates she turned around and looked over at the sleeping village, tuning out the voice of Sakura's yelling.

With one last good-bye smile she turned and walked away without once looking back.

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**A/N:** See, I told you I was bad at endings.  
Be glad I didn't leave it with a cliffe :P  
Thanks so much for reading!  
Reviews are appreciated (come on, it's the last chapter!)  
**fanny-kun**


	35. Epilogue

**A/N:** Epiloguee!!  
I thank all my reviewers: _Dark Will To Die, Adorkable93, pik.and.Mable, Luffly Emi, shunie102, LOPE, TheGrimSqueaker, CrystalHeart27, Dragon of Twilight, Unknown-Uchiha, TheFirstTime, Kay Chan, manga19, Grim Goodbye, Gaara's Pryo RACCOON, LawfullyDeceitfulElly, AllsFair-N-Love-War, RikoYuzuyu13, 0smidgen0, Miss Stellar, Itami-chan, Originalatorian, SomeOtherPerson, sasukenejisfirewolfgrl12, krizzy-sama and Hatsue Cybanne._  
Also thanks to the many anonymous reviewers (:  
Thanks too to everyone of those people who added my fic to their alerts and favourites, there's too many to name.  
I would like to give special thanks to **Grim Goodbye**, and **Kay Chan** for their numerous reviews from early on.  
And I would like to give VERY special thanks to **_RikoYuzuyu13 _**who not only reviewed a tonne of times but also contacted me through e-mail to just talk. And she offered to make me a fan art (it'll be on my profile soon, check it, she's amazing)  
Well that's all folks. Enjoy the Epilogue.

**Disclaimer:** -insert witty disclaimer here-

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Fluffy white clouds hung low enough over the horizon that some of the tops of the buildings were lost in them. They were densely spread, allowing only a few rays of sun to shine through. Only on rare occasions were people able to stand in direct sunlight, but nevertheless, the nimbus's alabaster colour seemed to glow from the light of the giant sun behind them, lighting up everything. Those clouds surrounded the village each and everyday, hence giving the name of 'Village Hidden in the Clouds' to Kumogakure. 

On top of a small hill, a slender person lay on their back with their hands behind their head as they looked up at the sky so peacefully, they could pass as being asleep.

As the wind blew, the person's short ebony hair moved slightly, revealing dull grey eyes with pupils only slightly larger than the size of a pinpoint. When they noticed that their eyes escaped from under the cover of their hair, they quickly sat up and adjusted their ninja hitai-ate(**1**) on their forehead so it was over top of their bangs and their odd and unusual eyes could not be seen.

"Yo, Shouza! Watching clouds again, eh? You're getting lazy, you're supposed to be helping with the chuunin exams!" The person turned around to see a boy come up the hill, his flamboyant orange hair blowing in the wind.

It took the person a moment's hesitation to reply, as they still weren't quite used to the alias 'Shouza' quite yet. "Yeah, yeah Kyum. I'm coming." The person stood up and jogged to the boy who had sat down, having given up climbing the steep hill. As soon as the person reached him, the two walked to the centre of the village.

The streets of Kumogakure were much more crowded than it would normally be because of the chuunin exams that were occurring currently. Shouza scanned at the people's headbands to see what village they were coming from. Before too much could be seen, Kyum had jabbed his friend with his elbow.

"Hey look at those chicks over there!" He let out a whistle and giggling could be heard.

"Yeah Kyum…listen, I just remembered I have to talk to Oyabun(**2**) about something. I'll catch up with you soon." Before the boy could reply, his friend was gone.

Agile as a cat, the person named Shouza made their way around the crowd to the girls who were still giggling at Kyum. The person stopped a short distance away from the four teenagers as they talked.

"That boy was so cute, did you see him?" The blonde gushed as she closed her blue eyes dreamily.

The brunette laughed. "I saw him all right, this village is full of guys." The pink haired girl agreed.

Only one of the girls wasn't gushing over the boys. "Uhm, I t-think that the one b-beside him w-with black h-hair looked sort of f-f-familiar…"

"Glad you recognised me, Hinata-chan." The person took this moment to step out of the shadows. Slowly, they removed their hitai-ate with the cloud symbol etched into it and brushed their bangs aside. Smiling grey eyes looked at the shocked faces and a grin stretched across the person's face. "What? Is Hinata the only one who remembers me? That's really sad, I only left a year ago."

Ino's eyes widened and she just stared for a moment. Then she too grinned. "It's great to see you again, Layuki."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Honestly Ino, I don't think this is going to work. They'll probably recognise me and wonder why I'm cross-dressing. In case you've forgotten, I _am_ supposed to pretend to be a boy." Layuki twirled in the dress Ino had thrown on her as she stood in hers and Sakura's hotel room. Hinata and Tenten had left earlier to meet their teams and left the other three girls alone.

The blonde frowned and tightened the ribbon of the flowy blue summer dress, ignoring what the shorter girl was saying. "You haven't changed, you're still tiny as ever. It doesn't look like you've grown either." This earned her a scowl. "But Layuki, we have to make you look like a girl, at least for a day. You can't meet everyone while you're still pretending to be a boy."

Sakura was lying on her bed reading a book on medical ninjutsu as she tried to ignore her arguing friends. Layuki couldn't help but feel guilty remembering the last time she'd seen the pink-haired girl was back when she had an argument with Uchiha Sasuke.

"But Ino, my hair! They'll recognise my hair. And besides, I told my teammates that I'd meet them later. How am I supposed to go explain that I spent the rest of the afternoon being a girl?"

Ino sighed. "The hair is easy, we'll buy you a wig, one that your hair looked like before you chopped it all off. And isn't there at least one guy that knows you're a girl?"

The shorter girl stopped twirling and sat down, watching the dress spread around her legs like a fan. She had never liked dresses, and this one was too short for her liking, ending mid-thigh. "Yeah, Saturou-chan knows…but still, I can't get caught! I attend a boys only training camp pretending to be a guy. If the figure out I'm a girl I'll be sentenced to death! As in, I'll be torn up into pieces and thrown into the river without a second thought."

This comment made a slap hit her face. She opened her eyes to look into very desperate blue ones. "I know that Layuki, but almost all our friends are here and the Hokage too, you're strong and can defend yourself, but do you think we would let them kill you? Stay here."

With a 'swoosh' Ino was out of the room. Since Sakura wasn't talking, Layuki looked out the window to see a sky white with clouds, as usual. Within a couple minutes Ino was back with a shopping bag.

She pulled out a long black wig and secured it on Layuki's head. Then as a final touch, from Layuki's weapons pouch she took out the leaf hitai-ate and tied it around her neck. "There, now wrap bandages around your upper arms and your legs and you can pass as a shinobi from the leaf."

Layuki sighed and obeyed. After she was done, she allowed herself to be dragged out of the hotel. For once, luck was on her side as her teammate passed in front of them.

"Saturou-chan!" She called out and skipped to the boy, causing his friend to pat him on the back. "Saturou-chan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Before he could reply she dragged the confused boy to back where Ino was standing.

The blonde eyed him curiously. Saturou was tall and had a head of messy brown hair, which he scratched the back of awkwardly. "Hi, uhm, do I know you?"

"Saturou-chan. it's me, Layuki. Or Shouza, or whatever you want to call me." She ignored him as he looked her over, shocked. "Anyways, I need you to cover for me, I'm going to meet some old friends."

Dumbfounded, he nodded as she gave him a quick hug and skipped away. Ino lead her to the place where the leaf shinobi were training and she picked out the ninja in her year quickly.

She squealed very uncharacteristically and ran over to them and wrapped her arms around the first person she touched, who just happened to be Kiba. He was silent with shock for a moment, and then recognition crossed his face. "Layuki! Hey!"

A grin spread across her face as everyone paid their 'hellos' and as they say, time flies when you're having fun, because soon the morning turned into late afternoon. She had spent most of her time with her best friend, Shikamaru. But now she walked over to her old teammate, who was with two other people.

"Oy, Kaoru! It's been a while." The redheaded boy looked up and grinned at her and wrapped her in a one armed hug.

"What happened to saying good-bye a year ago, eh?" Then he gestured to the boy with long black hair and bright green eyes and the girl with navy hair who looked oddly familiar. "This is Mitashi Suyu and Izuku Ami-chan. I guess you could call them your and Karin's replacements. Suyu, Ami, this is Fuyaku Layuki. "

A pang of guilt went through Layuki as his deceased sister's name was mentioned. She held out a hand to the two new people. "Nice to meet you Suyu-san, Ami-san." She stopped at the navy haired girl with eyes matching her hair. "Izuku Ami…then you must be – "

"My sister, so be nice to her. " A tall man with the same navy hair walked in on the four. He set his eyes on Layuki who knew what he was going to say next. "What happened to telling me you were leaving, Layuki?"

She smiled innocently. "Heh, well you see, Rei-sensei, Tsunade-sama told me to leave whenever I wished and so I guessed that as long as she knew I…" Her voice trailed off as she spotted a bright red head a distance away. "Hold on. I'll be back. Oh and if you see me around with short hair and dressed in the Kumogakure Training Camp uniform like a boy, call me Tabashi Shouza. That's my alias while I'm here, but I think Tsunade-sama already filled you in."

Rei nodded. "She did. Are you taking the exams?"

"Nope." She grinned proudly. "I got chuunin standards at the last exam in the earth country. But don't worry; I'll be watching everyone fight. If you come by the camp, ask for Shouza and me and Kaoru can have a sparring match to show you how much I've improved." She looked back over and saw that the red head was getting farther. "Got to go, see you around."

Turning her back on several bewildered faces, Layuki ran as fast as she could through the streets, gracefully slipping past pedestrians and trying not to hit anyone. As she ran, she saw several more shinobi from the leaf, but didn't stop to talk. Instead she just ran.

And ran.

And then she stopped, having lost track of the fiery red hair. Then she caught it again and ran towards it, panting. When she was close enough, she pounced on the person in a tight hug, almost toppling them over.

"Gaara! It's great to see you again." But when she looked closely, she saw that the red hair was lighter than it should be, and the person who faced her wasn't the one she wanted to see. "Oh! Gomen(**3**), I mistook you for someone else. I'm sorry." The person shrugged and kept on walking.

Layuki swore, she still had the same foul mouth as she did back then, at herself as she could barely see over the heads of people around her. She made her way to a nearby shop and stood on top of an over turned basket so she could get a good view.

She knew she saw Gaara. She was positive that she would recognise him anywhere.

Before she had a chance to really look, the shopkeeper yelled at her to get down. Scowling, with one last look she spotted a mop of red hair. With satisfaction settling in her veins she jumped off and headed toward her target, but not before she looked at herself in the mirror.

If she did say so herself, she looked very feminine. With the short blue dress and long haired wig, nobody from the camp would probably recognise her. She made a mental note to praise Ino later.

Then she began running again. When the people in the crowd kept growing denser, she grew more agitated as she needed to slow down. Growing impatient, she focused chakra to her feet and leaped to the rooftops, where running was easier. Layuki ignored the yells and attention she had attracted.

With a swift movement, she had landed in front of Gaara. She grinned widely. "Hey."

His sea foam green eyes looked her over as she noticed his siblings next to him. She nodded and them and turned back to the redhead who was viewing her with an expression of indifference. She noted that he'd grown taller, and now stood nearly a head above her. "It's you."

"Yep, it's me. Live and in person." She mocked a small bow. "How are you Kazekage-sama?" Layuki figured he'd be used to his position by now and would make her call him that.

But that wasn't the case. "No, my name is Gaara."

She smiled. "Well, Gaara, it's been a while hasn't it?" The next time she looked his siblings had disappeared. Leaving the fourteen-year-old girl alone to deal with her developing hormones. Swell.

"It has. Walk." She obeyed and walked beside him for a while in comfortable silence. She was probably the only person capable of walking in a comfortable silence with the Shukaku container.

She didn't know where they were going, but she was pretty sure they'd gone a while without stopping. Judging by the sun's position, it was nearing dusk. The wind blew lightly, sending a shiver through Layuki. Though the Cloud Village was humid during the day, the temperatures tended to drop at night. It didn't help that Ino had forced her into a dress with spaghetti straps and the bandages on her shoulders didn't do much at all to prevent the cold to prevent the cold.

The next thing she knew a cloth was draped over her shoulders. She looked up at Gaara and noticed he was wearing his normal clothes, having given his Kazekage robes to her. She smiled. "Thanks. But I don't think giving me your _Kazekage_ robes was the best idea. Knowing me I'll probably trip and ruin them."

And as if on cue, she stepped on the hem of the warm material that hung to the ground because Gaara was so much taller than her. With only enough time for a small yelp, she prepared herself for collision to the ground.

But instead, the only thing she fell on was very soft sand.

"You're still clumsy."

Layuki cracked a grin and righted herself up with aid from the floating sand. She then tightened the robes around her. "Just like old times, eh? I fall, and you catch me."

He didn't reply to that. Instead he was looking at the long scar on her right leg that went from above her knee all the way down so it disappeared into her shoes it stood out incredibly, especially in the dim light. "Your leg. It's fixed."

It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about and then she smiled sadly. "Yeah, the Hokage patched me up. Don't worry, the only people who know that you did it is me, you, and Shikamaru. I trust him with my life and I know he wouldn't tell. So your position of Kazekage is still safe." She continued walking. "And don't you go on forgetting our deal. You promised to not try to kill me again."

By now, it was past dusk and the people on the streets were dispensing. Soon, the shop lights switched up and it was only the two of them on the streets. Looking up into the sky, she saw a full moon. It brought back memories, like the first time she had really talked to Gaara. Or yelled at him, same thing.

"What's wrong with you?"

The question caught Layuki off guard and she spun around. She quirked an eyebrow as he stood there and watched her. She smirked. "There's lots of things wrong with me. Would you care to be more specific?"

There was a moment's pause. "You're too at ease. You should be afraid."

"Afraid?" She almost laughed. "What's there to be afraid of? The village is completely safe, I've been here for over a year." She talked though she knew perfectly well that wasn't what he was talking about. Layuki stayed silent for a second to add to the moment. Then she glanced over at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Unless of course, you're talking about me being afraid of you?"

Gaara looked at her as if she had just stated the most obvious thing in the world. Which, in a way, she had. "Yes."

"Why would I be afraid of you? You're like a giant panda bear." Layuki swore that if he had eyebrows, they would be twitching right now. Then she leaped onto the rooftop, with him following a moment after. Her tone was serious now. "I'd asked myself back then why I wasn't scared of you. The only answer I could find is that I didn't want to be. Cheesy as it may sound, I really wanted to get to know you."

It was silent between the two. Yet, despite the situation, it was still a comfortable silence. "You were stupid, I've caused you much pain." Layuki was about to retort when he started talking again. "But I thank you Layuki, thank you."

She smiled at him as she stared up at the moon. "Those were the last words you said to be before today." Another comfortable silence. "Take me up to the sky. It's been a while since I've gone flying." She chuckled to herself. "The gryffons I summon are mad at me since I trained one of them too hard. So I've been stuck on the ground for some months now and I probably will be until they let go of their grudge."

"Will you jump?"

Layuki laughed loudly and winked at him. "Will you catch me?"

He didn't answer. But the next thing she knew she was soaring through the sky with Gaara seated right next to her. She let out a whoop of delight.

Then they stopped right in front of the moon. It was large that night, and it was bright, casting rays over the large village.

"It's like a pearl, isn't it? A large, shiny, expensive pearl from the biggest oyster in the sea." She sighed and leaned back in the sand. "I love full moons, they're so beautiful."

"It looks more like an eye." Gaara said, staring up at the moon as well.

She laughed. "Well an eye like that could create one hell of a doujutsu(**4**)." Layuki felt like a small child compared to the world. Her eyes lit up as she spotted a shooting star. "Ooh look! Make a wish." She closed her eyes and did so. When she opened them again she grinned. "What did you wish for?"

"It won't come true if I tell." His aquamarine eyes flickered to her and she grinned even wider.

"No, it won't. Good for you." Then yet another comfortable silence. "It's been a long year. How's it like being Kazekage?"

There was no answer for a moment. Then, "It feels good knowing that I'm needed by people."

"And they must feel safe with a Kazekage that can control the sand."

Silence again. "No. People still think I'm a demon. A monster."

"Well you are." Layuki immediately regretted her words; she hadn't meant to be so blunt. "_Were_, I should say. People can't change who they are. Once a monster, always a monster." By now her voice was little more than a whisper. Then she turned to him and winked. "But who says all monster's are bad?" Gaara smiled and after that nothing else was said.

The two of them just floated in the air and watched the moon. The silence was the most comfortable either of them had ever shared.

**

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**

**A/N:** The ending is also dedicated to Riko who loves romance ;) I tried my best.

1-hitai ate: I've used this before. It's the ninja headband for those who don't know.  
2-Oyabun: Boss  
3-gomen: Sorry  
4-doujutsu: eye jutsu

Wow, that was the longest chapter I'd ever written.  
Now I'm _ordering_ you all to review :P  
I mean, seriously, come on, it's the last chapter!!!  
The sequel will be up in a month or so, I'll probably post something in this fic saying it's up.  
Thanks so much to everyone! Reviews are very highly appreciated:D  
Thanks for sticking with my fic till the end!  
Good-bye!  
**fanny-kun**


	36. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, I know I'm not supposed to make whole chapters dedicated to author's notes...  
but everyone else does and they can't prosecute me or anything for doing so.  
But this chapter does ruin the 35-chapterness.  
Oh well, back to the point:

-Squeals-

**_THE SEQUEL IS UP!!_**

It's actually been ready for a while (no wait, don't shoot!) but I've been focused on my other fic and haven't really had anytime.  
So ya'll better go and check out  
**Jester  
**because Layuki's back in action!

Anyways, story info.  
I'm hoping to make more romance into it than **Mastermind**.  
But anyone who's tried writing a romance with thirteen-year-old's will agree with me, it's tough.  
It seems as though adolecent romances aren't healthy.  
Which makes me kinda a hypocrite because I'm a youthful teenager who wholeheartedly supports my friend's romantic lives.  
Not my own though, boys are unexistant and insignificant through my eyes (except Gaara).  
Yes, I have a gift.

Anyhooooooooo  
Genre is: Angst/Romace (yes I enjoy writing angst)  
I'm hoping to keep it GaaOC.  
But (yes there is a but) because I have a newfound (or oldfound) Deidara obsession it's possibly (probably) going to be GaaOCDei.  
Because Layuki is just that kind of lucky bitch. I know, envy her.

I'm keeping the same rules. Call my character a Mary-Sue, and I might just kill you in your sleep.  
Well, maybe not, but still.

So thank you people for reading this super long Author's note.  
I'll put a character description on my profile for those of you who have (God forbid) forgotten Layuki dear.  
Well, she's an outspoken brat, so that's all you really need to know xD

See you all in my reviews!! :D

**fanny-kun**

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